Wo Futari De
by Esoteria
Summary: Sagara Sousuke and Chidori Kaname fight their way home through a rainstorm, each reminiscing on their past together as they run. First of three independent volumes.
1. Chapter 0: Foreword

Detailed updates regarding this and other stories are available in my profile.

_Author's Note: On June 14, 2007, I screwed up the chapters of Wo Futari De. It's going to take me a little while to get them back in order. More importantly, a "new chapter" message will go out to the people on the alert list, which no doubt will get them excited over nothing. I hope they read this and accept my apology. The only thing that's changed about WFD is that I edited this foreword to include the fact that the novels are now licensed for NA distribution._

----

Brief Foreword

----

In an attempt to make this note as brief as possible, and avoid digressing significantly, I will limit it to two paragraphs.

This is a fanfiction set in the Full Metal Panic world, and it is the first of three "volumes" I ultimately hope to write. The setting is that with which we are all familiar: Jindai High School and the surrounding city. Most importantly, the time in the FMP world exists _after The Second Raid_ anime, _after Dancing Very Merry Christmas_ novel, and _before most of Continuing on My Own_ novel. Look to the extended foreword for information on the series.

This "volume" (they are not, in fact, large enough to be called volumes but I use the term as in manga) is a romance. The second volume is a comedy, called Hitosawagase. Another volume (action) or a multi-part fanfiction is to follow Hito. These three subjects make up what I feel are the main genres that FMP resides in. Having said that, it is a romance, I should warn those who prefer the action and comedy of Full Metal Panic that it may not be to their tastes, though there is some of both in this volume.

Full Metal Panic Fan-fiction

Wo Futari De

Rating: PG-13 (for violence and romantic scenes)

Disclaimers:

I do not own or claim to own Full Metal Panic or any intellectual property therein.

This story contains two graphic scenes of violence, and one explicitly romantic scene (non-sexual)

(If you are satisfied with this foreword, proceed to Chapter 1. If you would like more information first, please proceed to the Extended Foreword)

----

Extended Foreword

----

This is the longer (meaning totally off base and rambling at every possible step) version of the foreword.

First, here is a listing of Full Metal Panic's history so those of you who have only seen the anime series are up to speed:

Year; Text; Manga; Anime

1998; "Tatakau Boy Meets Girl" (novel); Full Metal Panic!; Full Metal Panic!

1998; "Hanatte Okenai Ippiki Ookami" (shorts); Full Metal Panic!; Full Metal Panic!

1998; "Hashiru One Night Stand" (novel); Full Metal Panic!; Full Metal Panic!

1999; "Honki ni Narenai Nishi Manrui" (shorts); Full Metal Panic! Overload; Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu?

1999; "Jiman ni Naranai Sankan-ou" (shorts); Full Metal Panic! Overload; Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu?

2000; "Yureru Into The Blue" (novel); Full Metal Panic! Overload; Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu?

2000; "Doujou Dekinai Shimen Souka" (shorts); Full Metal Panic! Overload; Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu?

2000; "Owaru Day By Day" v1 (novel); Full Metal Panic! Sigma; Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid

2001; "Owaru Day By Day" v2 (novel); Full Metal Panic! Sigma; Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid

2001; "Dounimo Naranai Gorimuchuu" (shorts)

2002; "Ateni Naranai Roppou Zensho" (shorts)

2003; "Odoru Very Merry Christmas" (novel)

2003; "Anshin Dekinai Nanatsu Dougu" (shorts)

2004/5; "Continuing On My Own" (novel)

2006; (shorts)

2006?; "Burning One Man Force" (novel)

The credits for information on the novels go to Anime News Network except for the last three entries, which I added.

"Shorts" refers to short story compilations (usually comedy or romance one-shots, sometimes entirely unrelated to the main story)

The manga and anime relations to the novels are not exact. For instance, the "Yureru (to shake/sway) Into the Blue" novel was probably part of the original Full Metal Panic anime rather than Fumoffu. I just put the general associations there so you'll know what's what. The year obviously does not correspond to the manga or anime either. Manga was/is roughly one to two years behind the novels, and the anime series were roughly four years behind the novels.

Translated versions of "Owaru (End) Day By Day," "Odoru (to dance) Very Merry Christmas," and "Continuing (tousu?) On My Own" **were** available at boku-tachi (google it) or from one of the mirrors linked to on that site, but since **the novels were licensed** for North American distribution, they're no longer available (legally) in any form right now. Previously, I **very** highly recommended reading up to Dancing Very Merry Christmas before reading my fanfiction, as it picks up pretty much after that. Unfortunately this is no longer possible (at least until the novels are actually available to buy). You can try to illegally obtain the translations Brandi did (not advised), find some synopses, or just wing it. Nothing terribly critical happens such that you won't understand what's going on, but particularly in Wo Futari De, there are references to things that happened between Sagara and Chidori that haven't happened as of the end of Fumoffu. Since The Second Raid is out on DVD (though incredibly expensive), and was/is available in fansub form, anyone who has watched it is pretty much up to speed on the major events I'm talking about. _And while I'm on the subject of the DVD's, you can buy them through deep discount DVD (a website... google it). They have good prices on the first two series, and they almost always have free shipping, and sometimes have a global 20 off coupon if you hunt for it or go to dealnews (another website)._

Now, as you have gathered from my brief foreword, I intend to write three volumes of fan fiction eventually. "Eventually" is a very broad term here. I will mention that I started working on Wo Futari De (roughly translates to "of the two of us"—please e-mail me if you can give a better translation) in early August of 2005. It is now September of 2006, and I am posting Shougeki (the third).

Wo Futari De was intended to be an outlet for the feeling I had inside of me every time I would finish a new series or novel of FMP: "I realize the writer can't very well let them go out with each other, but this is ridiculous." The reality is that this teasing style and beating around the bush with the whole thing is exactly what makes the romantic element of Full Metal Panic so interesting. And, as a little teaser of its own, it is exactly what I used in this first volume.

The second volume, the comedy, is intended to throw us back to the days with Hayashimizu (the student council president) and Tsubaki Issei and such. The carefree lives of Sagara and Chidori that outside of Fumoffu we haven't seen as much as we might like in the anime. Fumoffu made a huge impression on me when I first saw it and I am currently convinced that it is the second funniest thing I have ever seen. Hitosawagase itself is not exactly a comedy. It's more of a situational comedy/drama.

The third volume is Shougeki, an action. It's meant to be a more mature sort of action focusing on Sousuke's work as a mercenary.

Although I occasionally refer to them as "final edits," these chapters are nothing of the sort. I do not expect them to be of a professional quality before I post them.

Before you finally get to start reading the story, I do need to put in a little blurb regarding feedback:

Please give me feedback.

I honestly would rather hear you e-mail me that my writing sucks and I should give it up than to hear nothing at all from anyone. Feedback, criticism (constructive or otherwise), praise (but don't fake it), whatever.

----edit: extra notes----

I understand that there is some confusion regarding the chapters and numbering. I included "Chapter 0, Foreword" because I felt my story required an introduction, most importantly to describe the setting so that those who had not seen The Second Raid or read the novels were not hopelessly lost. This site, however, did not intend for such a foreword to exist, and although I can name my chapters whatever I want, there is still a basic numbering system the site uses. Therefore you see "2: Chapter 1" which is, in fact, the first chapter of the story even though it is the second 'chapter' I've posted. Sorry for the confusion.

Again, look to the profile for more detailed information about WFD and other fanfiction.

Thanks and enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1: Rain

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 1

----

It was a miserable evening for walking home from school. Sousuke had, minutes ago, watched Kaname Chidori desperately look for her umbrella in her school bag, to no avail. Apparently, someone had taken it while they were running an errand for the student council. He kicked himself mentally. A terrorist's heavy breathing... a grenade pin being pulled... the bolt action of a rifle ringing in his ears... all of these things were engraved into his very being. He'd never miss them. Not ever. But he'd missed Chidori's umbrella being stolen. Instinct had told him to immediately inspect her bag for any traces of an explosive or a tracking device that the perpetrator may have left during his inspection. Most likely this fiend had carefully searched her belongings for some clue--some information about the Black Technology or the Whispered...

'Watch it, Chidori! It could be a bomb,' he had said more calmly than usual. The fact was, he simply wasn't feeling normal today.

Before he could move Chidori a safe distance from her bag a specially-prepared, rolled up paper had made contact with his head. He had bit his tongue on the impact.

'None of this today, Sousuke. There's no bomb, there's no cell phone tap, there's no microphone. Someone just took the umbrella, and used it to get home.'

She had not had her usual vigor with her reprimand either. Maybe she was tired. She wasn't sure.

At any rate, now they were both standing under an awning at a side entrance to the school, watching the janitor give them a painful "Gomen" look and a deep bow before locking the door and jogging off under his tiny umbrella.

"You'd think with all the weapons and grenades and other junk you carry around, you'd have an umbrella. Or a bulletproof shield or something." Kaname looked at him with less disgust than usual.

Exhausted eyes found Sousuke's. His lit up at the words "bulletproof shield" for a brief moment, then he looked away, scowling.

"Well, don't worry," she said, "it happens." She was being unusually understanding. For all the planning for a terrorist attack or a full-on siege of the school Sergeant Sagara had done on his own time, he could at least be prepared for an early Autumn shower. Although, admittedly, this was hardly a shower. This… was an impressive display of natural power.

"Chidori," he said suddenly. Kaname looked up. "Wait, here, I will procure a taxi and return to pick you up."

She just stared. "A taxi. Coming to Jindai High. At 7:30pm in _this_?" She pointed half-heartedly towards the sky. _I'm too depressed, _she thought. _This kind of mood has to be bad for the skin or something. _She paused. _I guess there's one thing to be happy about, though._ She stole a glance at his troubled face.

"Look," she said at last, "I appreciate it, but I think we're just going to have to make a run for it. Besides, you don't want to leave me here by myself anyway, right? Wraith probably can't see a thing from wherever he is right now."

Sousuke scowled. She was right. Wraith did nothing but observe from afar, rarely if ever intervening in any troublesome looking situation when it came upon Kaname. So now, in this weather, he couldn't even trust him to watch properly. There was no other way. They'd have to run. But it was a good 2.5 kilometers to their apartments just from the train station.

_Although_, he found himself wondering, _if Wraith can't see us, he certainly can't hear us..._. He couldn't help but ask. It had been bugging him for too long now.

"Chidori."

Kaname looked back at him. His face was still troubled.

"Sousuke, listen... I'll be okay, let's just try to get to the tra--"

"It's not about that."

She cocked her head slightly. "Okaaay..." Her curiosity brought a tinge of optimism back to her voice. Some much needed energy.

"Wraith..."

Energy gone. She knew this was coming, but she didn't expect it now.

He gathered his courage. "You have spoken with Wraith before, right...? In person."

"...Yeah." She looked away from him, but he could gather nothing from her reaction.

They stood in silence for a while.

_I have to say it_, she thought. _I have to._

She took a deep breath. "He means nothing to me... he's not even a friend... and I know he could never do as good a job of prote--"

Sousuke had lifted his hand to cut her off. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked about that. Please forget about it." A very difficult question to ask and an even more difficult question to answer had just been averted once more.

She wanted to cry. Did he notice her always looking around to try to find him? She didn't even know if it was a "him" at all, but Wraith somehow intrigued her. Always in the shadows, aware of everything. Sousuke was reckless when Wraith was invisible. Wraith absorbed information while Sousuke ran into the situation headlong. Still... when she thought about it just a little further, the way Sousuke would always jump in front of her, always put his hand across her chest in a blocking motion while his pistol was raised to the enemy... It wasn't just "cool" or "chivalrous." It was an incredible feeling to her. One that would pierce into the most perilous and hopeless situations and bring her through them... every time. She didn't want to lose that. She began to move toward him, but he interrupted her once again.

"I think the rain has died down a bit, but it may not last. Let's go! Chidori!"

With that he grabbed her wrist and ran with her into the rain. They sloshed through huge puddles in the uneven pavement. She looked over at him through the rain. Water poured down the locks of his dark brown hair. A few droplets gathered on his eyelashes occasionally. The skin where his neck met his collar glistened as a few streams of water forced their way down to his uniform. It looked like his face had softened a bit. Maybe he wasn't as upset as she had thought? Or maybe he wasn't upset at all? Maybe it was all just part of his mission to him?

No, she couldn't think like that. She knew better. Too much had happened in his year at Jindai for her to still believe that. She looked down at his hand, at her wrist. What was he thinking every time something like this happened? Whether they were running from RK-types or Gauron or Arastols or raindrops, he would always pull her along like this... not too roughly, of course, but always edging her to move a little faster, to keep up, to stay with him. He'd look back almost frantically every few seconds to make sure she was alright. Their eyes would meet for that not-even-a-split-second... Was he worried about her? Well, of course he was. But he was always so focused on what was at hand. She always found herself thinking deeply in these situations while Sagara deftly and intelligently planned their route. Should she be trying to help guide them? She figured she'd leave that to him...

Suddenly, Sousuke miscalculated and stepped in a large pothole filled with rainwater. A huge wave splashed on his own opposite leg and both of Chidori's... all the way up to her thighs. She froze as the chill raced up her spine, around to her chest, and up to her jaw.

He looked back at her with a grimacing, sorrowful look... almost sheepish: probably half-expecting a smack to the head.

"I-- it-- it's okay... S-S-Sousuke" she managed, shivering violently.

They ran over to the sidewalk and found a small, slightly decrepit shop with an awning in front to stand under for a moment.

Chidori decided against the place she really wanted to lean and instead put her back to the glass, crossing her arms and ankles to try to stay at least reasonably warm... She noticed Sousuke scanning her pitiful figure: utterly drenched from shoulders to stomach, and again from the hem of her skirt almost to the waistline. There were a few dry spots still visible, perhaps.

Sagara opened his bag and began digging. To Kaname's immense surprise, he brought out what appeared to be a slightly undersized bath towel.

"Wh..." She shivered. "What's that?"

"A military blanket. They're wool, but this particular one is Italian and is surprisingly thin for its absorbency and warmth."

She wanted to ask "Why didn't you take that out earlier?" but thought better of it as he knelt down to dry her...

_Wait, what!_

"So--! Sou--! Sousuke!" She cried, "What are you doing!"

"Drying you, of course." He said it matter-of-factly, as he always did in these situations. He was rubbing her calf, and attempting to drain some water from her sock in the process... the shoes were a lost cause.

…The blanket and his hands were warm. She bit her lip and thought better to just bear it.

_He has absolutely no tact for these kinds of things_, she thought, shivering. But then, she liked that about him, too. And situations like this gave her something to muse on later... and shiver for a different reason.

When he finished the other lower leg and began to move up, intuition took over. She snatched the blanket from him and took a step back.

"Ecchi!" She scolded.

"Chidori, I was just--"

She sighed laboriously. _He's right... I can't exactly walk around drenched like this... And I shouldn't scold him just for trying to help... _With some reluctance she added, "I know, I know... just..." She growled at herself for not being able to say it. "…you know!"

It was an unnecessary request, of course. 'Don't do anything I wouldn't want you to do' or something of the sort. At this, she thought she detected a hint of annoyance when Sagara's soaked figure nodded quickly and retrieved the towel. Still, it was a nice gesture, and in some ways she was enjoying the moment.

Sousuke dropped to one knee again, and with his head clearly turned all the way to one side, dried her legs and the hem of her skirt.

_She's always so difficult in the most important times. It makes no sense_. But it wasn't like he didn't know it was coming. Even his now-superior Melissa Mao would get bent out of shape over some of these kinds of things. Captain Testarossa would never stand for them at all. But there was no room for modesty on the battlefield! It then occurred to him that they weren't exactly on a battlefield at the moment. He finished quickly and rose up to dry her shoulders. But before he could...

A furiously blushing face and distant eyes met him: the two were not ten centimeters apart.

…A seemingly very long moment passed. He saw something trying to come up Chidori's throat.

"B--... Baka!" She drew back a hand to strike him, but stopped and put it back down, still irritated.

He knew why she was mad this time. Nine months ago he wouldn't have understood. Now it started to make sense... at least a little. It wasn't him stooping down to dry her or coming up to continue that made her go off... it was him _seeing_ how she reacted to it. She didn't like that. He could almost relate. Getting a rise out of an enemy in a one-on-one confrontation was one of the best ways to weaken them. Occasionally Gauron had successfully drawn Sousuke into an agitated state, and when Sousuke realized that Gauron could see this, it made him all the more angry. It worked out okay in those situations thanks to the Arbalest. Normal weapons would not have been forgiving at the hands of an emotionally distraught person. He'd have been inaccurate and have wasted ammunition. But those situations with the ARX-7 tripled, even quadrupled his efficiency using the Lambda Driver while he was emotionally involved. Sousuke had realized long ago that he wasn't sure he could ever really fight that way... drawing anger or hate out of himself every time he needed to fire his weapon… oozing urgency and the need to protect every time an ally or his own AS was in danger. He had always been behind the safe curtain of indifference in battle before. A low heart rate and calm breathing made a sniper shot accurate. The "that's just the way war is" attitude is what kept him going when an ally was killed. Now he was supposed to reverse everything with this new, underdeveloped, esoteric weapon? It was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous, even for an organization such as Mithril. These had been his thoughts before the incident in Hong Kong. And really, they still were. But now he couldn't say for sure where he wanted to be.

His thoughts finally trailed off. Images of battle and fallen comrades faded away in the reflection of Chidori's eyes. They looked at each other for another moment.

Finally Kaname's hand moved forward to take the blanket. "I'll get this part," she said. "...and thanks," she added, almost too late. Normal color started to return to her face as she wrapped up in the damp but warm blanket and retrieved her bag. Sousuke brought out another item from his bag, a very small switchblade-looking knife. He unfolded it to its full length--not quite seven centimeters including the handle--and brought it to her chest. He folded a corner of the blanket on top of another in front of a surprised Kaname's collar, and used the tiny knife as a pin to hold it together. The silver handle and blade tip reflected light into his eyes as he straightened the blanket-turned-shawl on her.

Chidori thought she saw a little smile from the corner of his mouth as he turned to pick up their bags. He handed Kaname hers, which had served and would continue to serve as a rain-block, and reached for her hand this time--not her wrist. She hesitated only a very short moment before taking his hand. Dry, warm fingers intertwined with her own dripping, cold ones. She felt warm all over, looking at that hand and the little knife... at least until the downpour hit her again. She snapped out of it and lifted the bag back over her head once more.

"Not far to the train station, Chidori!" He called back to her from his slightly shorter distance ahead.

(to be continued...)


	3. Chapter 2: A Very Large Puddle?

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 2

----

Running just behind him, Chidori found her mind wandering again while she watched Sousuke's serious face wrinkle and squint with every direction change and dash over a puddle. The rain was coming down hard. She couldn't tell if it was really any less than when they were at the school entrance. The way her bag bent under the downpour sure seemed to deny that possibility. _Splat! Splat! _ Huge drops assaulted them without any sign of mercy. Even so, Chidori was back under that awning in her mind; retracing the drying incident. It was true that Sousuke had only been trying to help her stay warm. It was also true that he did it all a bit too quickly to be called affectionate. But still, she thought... would he have done that for someone else? Wouldn't he have just handed them the towel and said "Here. You'd better dry off?" (And would he not have done that with her, too, just a month or two ago?) He only occasionally showed these bits of unusual kindness. _I must really mean something to him now, right? Am I not just a mission anymore?_

She thought back to the day that she'd taken him to get a haircut. It'd ended disastrously, with Sousuke apprehending and threatening the barber, but in an uncharacteristically merciful mood, Kaname had invited him up to her apartment to finish cutting his hair. She remembered looking at him in the mirror as she snipped away, running her fingers through his hair. He didn't make eye contact, so Chidori had probably stared. The scar on his face wasn't really that visible from the front... He had his usual "alert" look about him, but he'd looked tired... possibly from the ordeal at the barber shop.

She enjoyed those moments very much, and thought back on them often... it was the first time Sousuke had said "I trust you" that way. When she had finished cutting his hair, he started looking even drowsier... she found herself leaning over to look at him straight on... Their eyes had met, and...—

A bus plowed past them on the crosswalk. A thick spray of water arose and before Kaname knew it she was in a ducked, protective position holding her bag in front of her. But the water never came.  
She heard a small grunt in front of her. Sousuke had side-stepped at the last second to take the brunt of the spray.

He coughed a few times to clear the water from his windpipe. He had tried to yell to Chidori to warn her, but she didn't hear him. She seemed somewhat preoccupied, in fact. Sousuke looked back worriedly, but was relieved to find Chidori still partially dry. Still being pelted with rain, this was no time to relax. He instinctively reached for her wrist, and when he was about to grab, he remembered. He opened his fist and held out his hand. Kaname took it with a little smile (but still with a baffled look) and he began his dash once again. The train station was visible in the distance. Several-story buildings stretched out in front of them on their side of the road, while a few fields and construction areas dotted the other side. It was a noted difference. Sousuke noticed a large bevel in the middle of the road they would next be crossing. He turned to Chidori and pointed.

"Go around or jump?" he asked.

_He's asking me?_ "Bu--" she started.

He cut her off immediately, "There's no time to argue! Which?"

The bowl-shaped bevel in the road began to resemble a lake to Chidori, who figured it was two or two and a half meters across in the direction they were going, and six or seven meters across in the other direction, probably more. To one side was the street they were running parallel to. There was no option of going that way, it was the very middle of the intersection, and there were still a few cars flying by occasionally. The other direction she couldn't see for the buildings. For all she knew, the entire road was shaped that way and there was no "around" at all in the other direction. The 'pond' was closing fast.

"Jump!" she yelled back, finally.

_Chidori's pretty athletic_, Sousuke considered. _She could probably make it. But I don't know about my own abilities to jump ahead this far... It would be no joke if one of us actually fell into that... ravine._

There truly was a significant error in the engineering of the road to have made it start looking like a half-pipe the closer they got. But there was no time to curse road makers. He thought about his jump.

_Wait a minute...!_ Sousuke's mind raced back to his M9 training in Mithril. Several times they had made the trainees repeatedly do a backward leap from a standstill, and while Sousuke himself already knew a similar move, he still remembered the training clearly: a maneuver that would allow the M9 unit to add a lot of distance between it and an opponent equipped with any melee weapon. So when an enemy AS came at it with the monomolecular cutter while the M9 still had its firearm drawn, the M9 unit wouldn't be at the disadvantage for long.

It was an AS maneuver, yes, but one still needed the physical strength to force his or her Arm Slave into the same action. He would attempt the same sort of jump on foot. Sousuke made his mind up and began planning the stunt.

For a brief moment, Sousuke found himself concerned that Chidori wouldn't make the jump, but a few of the less-than-pleasant memories of her inflicting pain in one form or another on him—namely, a certain softball base to the back of the head--was about all the convincing he needed. The leap drew near. It was time.

With a serious look and an affirming nod, Sousuke let go of Chidori's hand. She increased her speed and dashed in front, making a one-footed liftoff from the very edge of the target, blanket and skirt flapping furiously with her speed and the storm's wind. He wanted to see if she'd make the landing, but there was no time, he couldn't slow down. With Kaname in midair Sousuke began his jump. He took a small hop, planted the ball of his right foot on the asphalt, spun on it to turn backwards, and then dropped his left knee to make the final connection. With both feet he sprung from the ground backwards in a large arc.

Immediately Sagara realized he had overcompensated when he brought his upper body back. He was slowly turning backwards in midair. He pulled his head back as far back as he could and separated his legs to slow his aerial spin. From the side it might've looked like a backwards scissor-kick martial arts technique, or something equally impressive. Water sprayed from his uniform shoes, making a second arc above him. Pulling his limbs in as the earth began to look upright again, he made a bent-knee landing, placing one hand on the asphalt to help support himself. He looked like he was about to start the 100 meter dash in the direction he came from, except that he had his school bag in the other hand.

Chidori just stared. She'd seen the whole thing. Confident she could make the leap herself, she'd turned her attention to Sousuke immediately after making her own landing--involving a lot of stumbling and a lot less action-movie-styled acrobatics. She dropped her shoulders, clutching the blanket around her neck. _This was supposed to be the one time I could beat him_, she thought, sulking.

"Chidori. Are you alright?" Sousuke got up somewhat slowly, sending some water flying off of his hair. Kaname clicked her tongue and turned around to start running again.

"Wait! Chidori!" He stumbled and dashed after her.

The train station's entrance was only another 100 meters in front of them. Sousuke caught up with and passed Chidori, who delivered a piercing glance in his direction which Sousuke duly noted. _Ugh, _he thought, _I don't know what it is, but it's not good._

Kaname watched Sousuke regain the lead, apparently headed to open the door for her, as his trajectory changed to match that possibility while they got closer. Why did he do that back there? Why did he even ask her which way to get past it? He wasn't trying to show off to her, was he? Sagara wasn't the kind of person to do that, but then... She thought back to the time when she first realized he wasn't a regular high school student. He boarded the Arm Slave that she now knew was an RK model, and to her protests he replied "I'm no amateur... I'm a specialist!" With that he proceeded to annihilate several other Arm Slaves of equal-caliber equipment and several armored trucks… and a tank or two, if her memory served her correctly. Maybe he did feel the need to show off occasionally? Well... even if so, she thought, that wasn't so bad. _He's modest the other 99 days out of 100. _She was acutely unaware of her unusual level of forgiveness tonight.

With the double-door entrance fast approaching, Chidori breathed a sigh of relief and with it shook off the remainder of her irritation and confusion regarding what had just happened.

Click! Sousuke pulled at the door on the right. Locked. But he clearly wasn't in any mood to be further delayed. While Chidori gave out a cry of despair at the new blockade, Sagara reached down and removed a medium-sized combat knife from a sheath attached to his ankle. Chink--CLANG! He stabbed the lock back-handedly and slammed his other fist into the base of the knife's handle, effectively thrusting it into the lock. Kaname heard the entire bolt assembly clatter to the floor on the other side of the door. Sagara adjusted and pried gently with the knife blade, now halfway imbedded in the metal, until the remaining parts gave way and the door swung open, defeated. While Chidori stared, mouth hanging open, Sousuke hit the bottom of the knife handle—still wedged in the door--upwards with the butt of his palm once, twice... three times. The knife flew loose and made a half-turn in the air before he snatched it from midair and returned it to its sheath in a single motion.

"Inside!" he commanded, maybe feeling just a little impressed with himself over the success of the lock's removal.

A stunned Chidori was not in a normal thinking mindset, and she nodded slowly, turned, and opened the door on the left. Opened it...

Exchanging glances with each other, the bolt on the floor, and the unlocked-the-entire-time door Chidori had just opened; Sagara slowly hung his head and walked inside.

Before he could receive his punishment, the two were dismayed to find that they were still being hit by rain. Looking up, this section of the train station was more of a covered walkway than anything else, and it just so happened that this particular part was under construction. There was only a wire-framed roof on it, and they stood on newly-leveled, un-tiled ground. Ahead was a sign that said "Renovation Area: Please Watch Your Step."

They looked at each other in disbelief before continuing their further prolonged run through the downpour.

There wasn't a single dry spot on either of them anymore.

Chidori cried "Mouuuuuuuuuu! When is it going to end?"

Sousuke cursed "Impossible! This is ridiculous!"

"Why didn't we notice this place before?"

"I don't know!"

Some more wailing from Kaname echoed slightly through the roofless hall.

It really wasn't that long of a run to the covered area. This time they checked both doors. Again the left one was open. Sagara dashed in, followed by Chidori. They slowed to a jog, then a walk. Exhausted, Sousuke found the nearest wall and turned around to lean his back against it. Kaname attempted to follow suit, but ended up giving way before reaching the wall. She stumbled towards Sousuke and was caught at the last moment before her legs gave out.

She crawled back up a bit and collapsed on him, sandwiching Sousuke to the wall and leaning against his chest…. His uniform was unpleasantly wet, of course, but she felt some warmth fighting its way through to meet her palms and cheek pressed against him.

It was a few moments later that she realized where she was. Startled, she picked herself up away from him. He looked back, not particularly surprised by either action, and just staring at the fluorescent light above. He blinked once or twice.

Kaname gathered some strength and slapped her hands down to rest on both his shoulders, getting closer again.

"We made it, right?" She attempted to throw some optimism in the statement. It was lost on Sousuke, of course.

"Yeah..." he said after a few breaths. "We made it... for now."

Having just played through several scenarios in her mind, and not wanting to pass up this kind of situation without testing its possibilities, Chidori began to move closer, half a centimeter at a time, while trying to keep the little conversation going.

"That was... quite a puddle back there in the road, huh?" She said, consciously smiling warmly... But Sousuke wasn't paying any attention.

His demeanor had totally changed. He suddenly moved one hand behind her and pulled her by the opposite shoulder to the door side of the wall he was on. He pressed her back against it. Hard.  
"Sousuke! What are you--"

"Shh! Quiet!" He whispered quickly.

_Kuso! _Sousuke cursed and mentally kicked himself._ Why didn't I notice sooner? There was no reason for them to leave a renovated part of the station unlocked... something's definitely not right here._

Looking down the fluorescent lit hall, he saw a part of a shadow dash off in another direction.  
He turned to Chidori, who looked back in fright, having seen the shadow as well.  
Sergeant Sagara's eyes narrowed.

"Amalgam."

(to be continued…)


	4. Chapter 3: Run Silent

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 3

----

When he actually got to thinking about it, this was one of the most opportune moments for Amalgam to make another move on Kaname Chidori. Sousuke recalled musing not half an hour ago that Wraith would be unable to see or hear them in this kind of weather. And without that remote surveillance or the backup of another SRT, he thought anxiously, there was only one man left to protect the Whispered code name "Angel".

_And so..._ he thought, _wo futari de._ "Just the two of us."

The thoughts of a few moments ago slowly shrunk into irrelevancy in Sagara's mind. Staying late at school doing chores for the student council... that was pretty much public information: Easy to get a hold of. And the storm tonight... the weather reports had warned of tropical storms possibly coming through at this time of the week, as it was about that season. The enemy had picked the right time, and most certainly the right place, to make another attempt. Sousuke surveyed his surroundings; well aware that time was not on their side. Desolate. No one else would be at the train station at this hour except perhaps an operator or a particularly unlucky janitor. Those that weren't moles for Amalgam were already dead, Sagara was sure.

All the strange thoughts about "her…," having dried her off despite it being pretty much unnecessary, and the small but nagging desire to prove his worth to that person... everything he'd done in the past few moments had left them wide open. Complacency was his downfall.

But it was time to stop imprecating himself, and start finding a way out of this predicament. His failures would not be acceptable to Chidori. They wouldn't be acceptable to Mithril. And they weren't acceptable to him. But if he could get Kaname out alive and relatively safe...

Speaking of whom, Chidori's eyes turned to Sousuke's concentrating and concerned face. He rubbed his eyebrows and turned to her, failing to look comforting.

She spoke softly at last. "It's bad, isn't it? Our situation..."

He spoke--or mouthed, as sound barely came out--only three words after several moments' hesitation and a disgusted look. "Worst possible scenario."

Tactical observations finally began to come to him. The first instinct in this situation would be to go back out the way they came. Jump ship. Get out quick. But he wasn't dealing with a petty little ambush. This was Amalgam. They'd studied not only Chidori, but Sagara as well; they knew their moves before they made them. Those doors were unlocked to get them inside. Out of the rain and into the trap. But there were already a group of enemies in behind the doors they had just come through. There had to be.

There was no turning back now. The way they were cut off left them little choice but to either pass by or actually go down the hall into which a shadow had disappeared moments ago. Sousuke looked around for possible distractions, or maybe something they could move behind as a shield if they were to brave that route. A bench, bolted to the floor, but not attached so strongly it was immobile. Still, the way it was designed offered little protection, especially from machine and sub-machine gun rounds. A couple of layers of five-millimeter-thick aluminum weren't going to last long. There were garbage cans that looked somewhat sturdy, but they weren't large enough... The simple fact was, a mobile shield wasn't plausible. Sarcastically, Sousuke reminded himself that even a brick wall on wheels wouldn't be enough for the kind of armor-piercing ammunition that was surely being used.

In fact, lately Mithril had begun carrying new assault rifles loaded with targeting computers and a revolutionary firing mechanism on the front of the gun which allowed it to "break" at roughly the halfway point and turn at a 90 degree angle in either direction. The end result was the ability to look around corners using the firearm, and if possible, fire one or a three round burst to eliminate targets waiting at the other side. It was a difficult weapon to use because of the strange recoil and stress on the joints when firing, but it came in handy. Unfortunately, these kinds of weapons were simply not practical for carrying in one's school bag. Sousuke had no such weapon. But this train of thought led him to remember the other weaponry he carried, and its uses for these types of battlegrounds. In his assortment of grenades were two flash bangs: smaller types, but certainly not lacking in effectiveness. He could blind and deafen anyone in line-of-sight if he lobbed one into that hallway. But was Amalgam really going to be just looking in their direction? And certainly they'd have been trained well enough to turn away immediately upon something like that coming into view.

Toying with the idea of simply giving up, turning himself in, and making a diversion long enough for Chidori to escape, he heard a noise from down the hall. A metal clang followed shortly by a loud clatter resounded. A knife of one form or another had been dropped. He heard hushing noises and angry grunts, surely from comrades of the clumsy soldier, irritated at his revealing their location.

Sousuke scrutinized the new information. From what he could tell they were hiding around a second corner, not far from their current position. If the wall they were pressed against were part of one giant square, they'd be on the opposite wall, backs faced in the opposite direction. Two corners meant Sousuke couldn't blind them all so easily. But it also meant they'd take less fire upon emerging. Thinking through it one more time, he formulated a plan. A new look swept across his face. He quickly but quietly began removing the lid from the garbage can nearby, and the bag containing a few discarded articles he set against the wall.

"_Sousuke!" _Chidori whispered, _"What on earth...?"_

Sagara turned to Chidori and simply placed his finger over his lips to silence her.  
Chidori couldn't help but feel relieved that Sousuke had a plan now. For her, it was just a matter of waiting for the Sergeant to get her out of another one alive. She was beginning to wonder, though, about what he'd just said...

Tension at the silence from both parties rose. Blood pressures raised slightly all around.

Perspiration collected at Sousuke's temple. He gently and silently tipped the can over and rested it on the ground. He removed the flash bang on the back side of his belt and the one in his bag. He placed the first inside the can at the very bottom, and after adjusting a few things on the grenade he changed the settings on the one he was holding. So far it looked like they were in the clear. He hadn't made any sounds and it'd be foolish for the enemy to come closer without knowing where they were.

Sousuke motioned for Chidori to crouch down with him where he drew an invisible map of the area on the floor. He drew out an incomplete square, and pointed to a position, then to him and her. Kaname nodded approval. _Okay, that's us._

He dotted points along the opposing wall. _Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. _Sagara drew his gun and looked down the sights. He then glanced to Chidori, who nodded again. _Four enemies._

He pointed one more dot further from the others, down the second hall. He held an invisible box to his lips and mouthed a few words. Kaname looked at him, slightly confused, but Sagara just nodded back. _A fifth on the radio? How does he know that?_ Chidori sat dazed, but quickly realized this was no time to question a specialist's strategy. She shrugged it off and waited for the next command.

Sousuke stiffly held up one finger. _First action..._ She walked herself through it. He pointed to Chidori, and then touched the ground next to him. _I stay here._ He pointed to himself, then to the corner. Getting up from his crouched position, he walked silently over and pressed up against the wall, then threw out his right arm, with the flash bang. _Sousuke tosses the grenade. Um... okay._ She hesitated, and then nodded slightly.

Two fingers. _Second action. _Sousuke drew the incomplete square again, pointed to the corner in the drawing, then pointed to the corner Kaname could see in reality. She nodded. Sousuke pointed to the trash can, drawing a line down the hall leading to the enemy. He poked the floor several times where the second corner would be, and then pointed to the trash can again. _When the can gets here..._

Three fingers. _Third action._ He pointed to her, then pointed to himself, held up two fingers, and pushed them in-line together. Using both fingers he drew the same line. Sousuke stood up and motioned for Chidori to do the same. When she rose, Sagara took her by the shoulders and placed her in a specific point on the floor. Kaname stood motionless, eyes following him in his military explanation. He stood right of her, and raised his arms and legs as though he were running in place. He pointed to himself, pointed to Chidori, then pointed to his right and waved his gun around, faking recoil like he was shooting.

_I stay behind him while we run past... okay, I get it._ She nodded a final time. Anxiety was beginning to grow. Her palms began to sweat. She felt her own heart pound against her chest: an unusual calm-before-the-storm feeling. When they made the run down the hall, they would be about as close as she'd ever been to an enemy firing on them. Sousuke hadn't been kidding when he said worst possible scenario. But he seemed confident, and somehow that trash can was going to help.

She didn't expect the four fingers to show up. Apparently there was more to the plan. _Fourth action?_ Sousuke drew past the enemy-containing hallway on the floor with both fingers, and drew another corner to mark the other side. Sousuke forcefully separated his two fingers, and then pointed to Chidori and the opposite corner. She looked for a minute then understood _I'm going to stay here and he... huh!_ Sousuke pointed to himself and drew a line... directly into the enemy-ridden hallway. Kaname shook her head furiously, but Sagara simply closed his eyes and nodded once, slowly. He made held the invisible box and mouthed some words again, then pretended to strangle someone and held his pistol to where this person's head would be. Chidori nearly collapsed, but she understood. Sousuke had to cut off transmissions or they'd be ambushed right then and there. Her shoulders dropped, and she nodded, looking at the invisible map.

Sousuke made a few last-minute checks of equipment. To Chidori's confusion he removed her vanity mirror from her bag and flipped it open, then back closed and pocketed it. He held the slide of his weapon back, checked the chamber for the bullet, and then slowly let it back into position. Returning it to its position at his belt, he looked at the grenades once more and then hunkered down next to the trash can to pick it up.

Kaname stopped him with a touch of the shoulder. She gave a concerned look, appearing to want to say something. But Sagara's eyes had a look of determination bordering on fury. It reminded her of that day he stood atop the RK-92. She closed her eyes and nodded, then took a step back towards the wall, pressing against it again. Sagara leaned to pick up the garbage can, and then stopped. He suddenly sat down and began taking off his shoes. Socks came off as well and they were placed with the discarded trash bag. Barefoot, he returned to the trash can.

_First action..._ Chidori thought. Her stomach was in several knots. One way or another they always made it through these things, but something about today seemed different.

Sousuke's mind leapt forward a few steps. The possibility existed that the knife dropping was meant to trick them. To fake their location so they could move into a better one. After all, wouldn't even an amateur know to move after something like that? Sagara would have to rely on one of two possibilities: Either Amalgam assumed he would think this way and stayed in their current position as a double-feint, or they simply did not have time to find a suitable relocation, and hadn't coordinated the move yet. If those two possibilities added up to a probability, this was the best way to take advantage of it. Sousuke was risking more than his own life here, but the way he had set it up, he would at least take the first few shots if something went wrong. With Chidori's running speed, perhaps she could make it.

His feet were sweating a bit, and he felt the floor was strikingly cold as he slowly moved to the corner in his crouched position. He avoided looking back at Kaname, who had dropped down to sit on her ankles while pressed against the wall, shivering from cold and fright. She would be able to move once the time came. She always could.

The corner drew near. Sousuke got right next to it, and put the garbage can down, a centimeter at a time. It tapped the ground inaudibly. Sagara pressed hard against the wall, standing up. He drew his pistol to his off hand, holding the flash bang in his right, pin already removed. That grenade arm crept up to the corner, his wet uniform sleeve nearly visible from the other side. He took a long, deep breath, his heart racing.

He slowly breathed out, and at the middle of his exhale, his elbow straightened. The grenade flew several yards straight down the middle of the hall. Using his off-handed pistol he bent down and slammed the base of the grip into the trash can. A monstrous, hollow metal sound echoed through the halls, followed by the clack of the flash bang touching down. Sousuke covered his eyes and one ear with his right arm and his other ear with his left hand.

_Second action._ Kaname's heart felt like it was two or three sizes too large in her chest.

The grenade detonated, and brilliant white light blasted into the walls. A very loud, very painful "POP!" followed, and the somewhat familiar ringing in his ears brought Sagara back to his senses. He hopped over the trash can at his feet, pulled the pin on the second concussion grenade and chucked it down to the base. He slid the can out past the corner and, after a split second of calculation, shoved it rolling down the hallway. He swiftly removed Chidori's compact from his uniform pocket and tried to open it.

It was being stubborn, and the plastic latch seemed stuck. Sagara forced it, and the mirror half split diagonally while the rest of the item ended up on the floor. He held it out to the corner, looking in the mirror, turning and angling it for just a moment before finding the trash can.

"Come on!" He yelled, watching intently. The can was slowing down too much. The hall was longer than he'd thought. Would it make it?

The loud metal-on-ceramic sound continued as the trash can rolled, but "loud" was no longer a relevant term now. If the first flash bang had worked properly, the enemy would still be pretty disoriented right now, at least from the sound. Even Sousuke could barely hear the can over the ringing, and he'd been further away from the first grenade than they.

The can took one last desperate roll, clearing the corner, open end pointing directly down the hallway. Tossing the mirror aside and switching his weapon to his right hand, he motioned to Chidori. She reacted and began to rise right about when several yells of confusion or anger or surprise or all of those came from down the hall. He grabbed her arm as she got close enough. He looked straight into her eyes with that same furious indomitability as the second flash bang detonated inside the metal garbage can. It wasn't a pop they heard this time, though, it was an outright explosion. The can had served as a massive megaphone-type amplifier, and if Sousuke's plan had worked, it would have directed the most sound right down that hallway. The second, third and fourth echo of the explosion were heard as Sousuke tore down the hallway, Chidori tailing.

_Third action. _The way he looked at her, Chidori knew everything was going okay so far.

Sousuke pulled hard on her wrist, bringing her up to his speed next to him. It felt to her like they were going forty kilometers per hour, and yet still in slow motion. Sousuke's grimacing face led her forward. She looked ahead at the trashcan, now slightly blackened and with a prominent split in the metal. It got closer as they neared the corner.

Sousuke held his right arm straight out, consciously keeping his elbow bent just slightly for recoil stability. He planned to empty seven rounds on their first pass, get Chidori to the next corner, and have eight rounds left over for his return. The sights on his gun bounced and swayed with his strides. He quickly gave up on using them and lowered the weapon a bit to eyeball the shots.

The corner was there. He ran to the right of the garbage can, releasing Kaname's wrist. Adding the off hand to his pistol aim, he pulled the trigger to half. As soon as a shoulder was in view he fired.

A white uniform. Flesh tore as the bullet sailed through. Air displacement sprayed blood from the large arteries in the enemy's upper arm to the soldier behind him, who narrowly missed the bullet himself. His face covered with hot blood and sinew, his hand went to his face while the soldier Sagara had shot spun into the wall from the impact to his limb and his weapon began to fall to the ground.

Seconds later, Kaname was at the next corner--cringing, waiting for the sound of some high-power weapon to be discharged. She heard several more gunshots, but to her immense relief they all sounded like they were from Sousuke's pistol. As she clung to her side of the wall that marked her destination, she felt Sousuke meet up and press against it. She looked to see his pistol raised up near his face, both hands gripping it tightly.

Time froze momentarily as she stared at that face. Sousuke was inches from her, clearly conscious of her presence, but entirely focused on his next objective. His wet uniform reflected fluorescent light into her eyes. She blinked.

Just then the enemy's gun hit the ground. As soon as it did Sagara knew something was wrong.

_Clack! Chin-Clack!_

The sound of a wooden stock resonated beyond the ringing of his ears. His entire expression, body, and face were immediately focused on the weapon still bouncing on the tile.

An AK-47. Terrorist assault rifle of choice, around even after the AK-74 came about. The problem was just that. This was NOT a weapon Amalgam would be using. Sousuke's mind flew back a few seconds to the white janitor's uniform, to the lineup of people he'd seen while strafing past the hallway. None of them were dressed for combat. Not even so much as a Kevlar jacket graced their torsos. The soft thud of bullets proved that, in retrospect.

From what he'd gathered, the three soldiers that were completely debilitated from the flash bangs had moved to the back, and the remaining two had prepared for him at the corner. He was too fast for them and incapacitated both temporarily with a single shot, which he had chalked up to luck until just now. He'd had time for his other six shots afterward, but what damage those had done he was unsure... and he needed to find out.

Risking it, he assertively looked out past the corner. Before him was a bloody spectacle. He'd hit more limbs than vital areas, but one of these men from an unknown organization had the misfortune of being shot in the head. A streak of what appeared to be almost a liter of blood and gore spattered the white wall next to the body where the displaced tissue had blown to. Sousuke flashed a glance to Chidori, who was back in her crouched position against the wall, just waiting for the end.

_Fourth action. Just get it over with, Sousuke._

Sagara stepped out, with the intention of finding kill shots and executing them if any of the enemies showed further resistance. What he found was a pile of bodies, dead or alive, on the floor and one man sprinting for his life down the hall. Sousuke spotted a radio in his hand. It would be just his luck if it had been transmitting when the flash bangs went off. The enemy would be on their way. He reached to his belt again.

"Chidori!" A rectangular fragmentation grenade landed at her side. "Throw this down that hall if you hear ANYTHING! Pin left hand, grenade right hand, five seconds!"

And with that he sprinted barefoot down the hall after the escapee. The smell of the flash bang's magnesium and ammonium perchlorate washed over Sousuke as he vaulted a body and rounded the corner, prepared for an ambush.

_The way that soldier was running, he probably didn't intend to counterattack, though_, Sousuke thought.

Another corner swiftly rounded and there stood the radioman, hands up, one with the radio, against a dead-end wall.

But Sousuke wasn't taking any chances. Seeing anything in an enemy's hand meant action had to be taken. Before he knew it, both the radioman's shins had been fractured by 9mm ammunition, and misshapen bullets were imbedded in both his lower legs. Seconds later the man's armaments and radio were scattered across the floor, out of reach. Sousuke clipped some handcuffs on him, picked up equipped on his belt the foreign pistol and radio, and ran back to find Chidori, leaving the man bleeding.

It seemed like an eternity just getting back those two corners and past the bodies again. Sagara quickly yelled "it's me!" and rounded the corner expecting to see Kaname's drenched figure.

All he found was a rectangular fragmentation grenade lying exactly where he'd left it on the tile.

(to be continued...)


	5. Chapter 4: Rage

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 4

----

Sergeant Sousuke Sagara, member of Mithril's SRT, stood in the dank hallway, mind reeling. Wet spots had appeared on the floor and wall where Chidori had been. The hand grenade sat nearby, oblivious to its own failure to protect.

Sousuke spun around. Only two bodies lined the floor. One could be called a "body" no more, and the other appeared to be breathing but incapacitated. If two were left, two were missing. Sousuke looked around the floor. They'd not left a trail of blood or footprints to lead him. Perhaps they weren't such amateurs after all.

Sousuke grunted angrily. Still in utter disbelief that Kaname Chidori was not there, Sousuke cursed himself. _HOW did I not hear her yell? You can't move two injured bodies and someone like Chidori without making noise! Where could they have taken her! This station is huge, they could be anywhere by now!_

Before he could think any more, the radio at his hip crackled to life.

"Gourudo 9, respond! Gourudo 9!" Gourudo was the man's way of saying "Gold" in Japanese.

Sousuke twisted the volume knob.

"Gold 9! We've captured the girl and are in the second office! The one under construction! Get over here quick, we think that bastard kid is on your tail!"  
A short pause.

"...he killed Six, man. He's gone. Two is in bad shape as well; we don't know what to do anymore... Just get over here quick, dammit!"

The transmission cut off.

_Code names,_ thought Sousuke. _If not already gone, that eliminates the possibility that these are just unorganized street thugs. But it appears the incapacitated over there was the leader… and they gave me Chidori's location._ Sagara eyed the body a few feet away. This guy might survive if taken care of properly. He considered ending the job right then and there, but thought better of it. Gunshots would draw more attention to his location, and killing him silently would take too long.

With the reminder of Chidori's capture, Sousuke fumed. _This will not go unpunished._ He silently cursed, eyes narrowing. He dashed down the hall, finding quickly the section marked "Hazard Area: Renovating." He heard a click of a door closing or a lock engaging from that direction. He should've realized that tracking down Chidori Kaname was proving too easy, but he was in no logical mood.

His run slowed to a walk as he spotted what appeared to be the office entrance. Pressing against the adjacent wall, he crept up to the door. Apparently one of the thugs had just arrived at the new location.

"Whoa, what the ! You ing killed her!" He yelled to another of them.

Sousuke didn't need to hear any more.

"No, man! We shot her wi--"

Before the other could finish his response the door had been kicked in. Completely removed from its hinges, it fell straight down to the floor.

Shocked men beheld a demon's eyes in Sousuke's glare. He stood panting heavily, fists clenched at his side. Two men had been guarding the door on either side. Another, who had just entered, stood in front of Sagara, and behind him was a lifeless Chidori held by a particularly tall man armed with a shotgun.

"Aa--"

The beginning of a syllable from one of them triggered Sousuke's release. Arms swept behind him, grasping the two pistols from his belt. In the blink of an eye, men on both sides of him had pistol barrels shoved into the crevice under their jaws, pointed up at their skulls.

Sousuke stared straight ahead at the other two, while pushing his weapons into the victims' flesh.

Several moments passed without a movement or a word, barring the pain-ridden grunts of the two unlucky enough to have been standing so close to the door. Sousuke's chest heaved with each breath. Choking and guttural noises came from the two guards intermittently. One was standing on his toes in a futile attempt to relieve pressure. Sousuke's reaction to this was to shove the barrel further into his jaw.

Sagara drew a long breath to speak, eyes flaming. His voice was low and raspy… but he'd heard some of the last words spoken.

"...And now... what was it you shot Chidori Kaname with?"

Silence and shock were his responses.

"An incorrect answer will find the four of you missing significant portions of your heads before you have time to find the trigger on that SPAS."

The mention of a firearm and the new thrust of cold steel into their lower jaws made both guardsmen drop their respective weapons: another assault rifle and an automatic pistol found the bare concrete.

The man directly in front of Sousuke had been in a complete comatose since the Sergeant burst in. Having regained control of his muscles, he moved, shaking, one leg to the side, shifting out of Sagara's line of sight. He took a breath when Sousuke's glare did not move with him.

Now feeling the brunt of the piercing glare, the hostage-taker who could no longer hide behind his partner tightened his grip around Kaname's neck.

Sousuke felt a little movement in his right hand. A quick glance told him that this guard was becoming agitated at his suppressed state. But right now that didn't matter. He took a very deep breath.

"**Shot. Her. With. What?**" The question could've been heard a thousand meters off. The two men without firearms stuck in them grimaced at the sound.

"J-just a tranq..uilizer" The man holding Chidori spoke slowly, with an attempt to sound as though he still had some control. His left arm's grip on Kaname tightened again. After a moment's hesitation, he inhaled and straightened up, clenching his right fist. Building up the courage, he spoke finally.

"But you'd better just put those guns down or she's gonna b--"

Three gunshots sounded like one. Sprays of blood and pieces of bone dotted the wall behind the silenced man. His right side's shoulder, hip, and thigh bone destroyed, he crumpled to the ground, Kaname landing on top of him, still unconscious.

His right arm had done the shooting, and the now released guard had fallen to the floor. Turning to his new foe while keeping his incapacitating pistol against the other guard, Sousuke watched the buff man, kneeling on the ground, reach for his sidearm. Sousuke's left hand pushed up a final time on his other victim's jaw, then removed the weapon. Gasping for air while holding his neck, the freed guard assumed a fetal position on the floor. In the meantime Sousuke's real enemy had brought the pistol up halfway, and Sagara had discarded his own right-hand weapon.

The man pulled the trigger, but before the gunshot, Sousuke had grabbed the slide on the pistol. Unable to fire, the man pulled the pistol away. Having found the release, Sagara watched his enemy's ammunition clip fall out of the weapon. The last bullet sprang from the chamber, unfired. The guard stared in disbelief at his useless firearm while Sousuke slowly brought his familiar pistol to meet his head.

A broken human being looked up at the demon about to take his life. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, waiting for the silencing gunshot.

"Die." He heard it come from the demon's mouth.

When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and looked up again. With colors washed out from pushing his eyelids closed, he saw a silhouette that was Sousuke, flooded by fluorescent backlight. The guard's mouth hung open.

"At least...," came Sousuke's words, "that's what I'd like to say. But there's a certain young lady over here that would be very upset if I were to kill you now. Be lucky she's here today."

With that Sousuke drew up his weapon and slammed the grip into the man's skull as he had done with the garbage can not that long ago. The guard fell to the ground unconscious, and Sagara stood over him while he reloaded his pistol and replaced it at his back.

Sagara knew he had won as soon as the man standing next to Chidori and her kidnapper stepped out of the way. Only two of these men had any guts for the job, and it'd landed them both permanent injuries. While settling the pistol into his uniform belt, Sousuke suddenly became aware of what had just happened. He couldn't sort all the details out just yet, but...

Apart from the hacking and coughing guard still curled up on the concrete, there remained the unarmed man, staring in fear and disbelief.

"Turn around," commanded Sousuke, who walked up to him calmly.

The man did as he was told, though hesitantly.

"Arms behind you." Sousuke reached for his handcuffs... but they were gone. He remembered they were used on the radioman a few halls down. He glanced around for anything else to use.

"Ah... no cuffs. Looks like you get off easy too. Just don't move your arms and back up to that corner." Sousuke pointed. The man turned back around and backed into the corner slowly, not looking back at all, but keeping his eyes fixed on Sagara, staring half in fear, and half in disbelief. A few moments ago this man could've been Death incarnate. Now he seemed like an ordinary student, no weapon in hand, only a severe look in his eye.

The SRT bent down and collected his prize. After checking her pulse for several seconds, and after breathing a heavy sigh of relief, he replaced the damp blanket over her shoulders and slung Kaname's arms over his, pulling her knees in front of him. Bending over to take on her weight, he carried her piggy-back to the door--or rather, the doorway sans a door.

Sousuke turned around and looked at the last man standing, in his corner.

"I'm going to stand out here and wait for my reinforcements. If you cross this line, you won't live long."

Sagara drew an invisible line on the ground just inside the doorway. The man in the corner and Sousuke both knew that line may as well have been a 3-cm thick steel wall. He wouldn't cross it for hours.

That being said, The SRT about-faced and marched out of the room. Going back the way he came, adjusting Kaname on his back with a little hop, he began making his way to the train tracks.

Wet, bare foot steps resounded on the concrete halls. The events of the last six minutes replayed in Sousuke's mind.

_When was it?_ He demanded of himself. _When did I go from a firmly calculated and perfectly executed operation to a wild, unplanned walk on some tightrope of death? _The analogy was ridiculous, Sousuke knew, but the point was there. _It's like as soon as I saw her gone, I suddenly lost every ounce of tactical training I've ever received. This is absolutely absurd._

It _was_ absurd. He couldn't stop thinking that. There were a hundred thousand better, more efficient, and safer ways to approach that 4-man room than the one he'd chose. Even if he'd assumed that Kaname was dead, there was absolutely nothing that should've kept him from making a full assessment of the surroundings. That room could've--

Sagara heard a voice suddenly.

"Don't shoot me, you'll drop her," it said before the voice's owner emerged from a bathroom door a few meters off. Sousuke didn't recognize the voice, but he knew who it had to be.

"They wanted me to give this to you, since you'd have probably left it. There's some information and orders inside, so read it immediately."

Sousuke looked at the informant. "He" was dressed as a young man, having no distinguishing features about him. "Wraith. So you followed us after all, even in that storm."

"Don't think you're the only one who is good at what you do, Sergeant. That's arrogant."

"A little help would've been appreciated."

"A little help was given. There were several more outside until they met with my P90."

Wraith held a small metal case in one hand just large enough to fit that particular submachine gun. Sousuke grimaced when he imagined the fates those thugs would've had at Wraith's hands. Somehow, a single kill-shot each would not have sufficed, he could guess.

"I suppose I should thank you for taking action this time."

Wraith scoffed. "Hah. I just did it because I felt like it, not as a favor to you."

"Very well, just give me my belongings and let me be on my way."

"So businesslike. You have some blood on your uniform shirt, you know."

Sousuke ignored the comment and squatted down to collect his bag and shoes. Wraith handed it to him, and then reached for something else behind him.

...It was Kaname's bag. "This one _is_ a favor to you, though. She'd be pretty upset if you forgot it."

"Thank you very much." Sagara bit back enough sarcasm that the formal phrase almost sounded honest.

Wraith waved casually and disappeared into the same bathroom. Sousuke found himself rather comically wondering what would happen if he went inside after him. Heck, Wraith could've been a "her." A small smile appeared on his lips. One or two things were going right today. Unfortunately, neither of those things was riding on his back.

Sousuke felt concern growing. He found a bench against the wall opposite to the now-visible train tracks. Gently letting Kaname down, he did a brief bodily check of her to ensure no lasting harm had come her way. He inspected her neck, and found a bruised area where the tranquilizer had been applied. Still, there were no other bruises or blemishes of any kind. Sagara would have to ask what happened later on. That was, if Chidori remembered anything at all. No bruises, no cuts... she had to have been taken completely by surprise.

A train was fast approaching. Sergeant Sousuke Sagara quickly removed the crisp envelope from his bag, which revealed freshly typed orders, brief as always. He scanned down to the bottom of the short memo: Signed Teletha Testarossa, a curvy, very legible signature. Ahh, what would the Captain have said had she witnessed Sousuke's outburst? And why had she written the letter personally? Sagara shook his head. That day he stood in front of all the departmental heads of Mithril and announced he didn't remember selling his soul to them… yes, ever since then, he'd taken his orders and sense of duty to the organization with a grain of salt. More importantly, there just wasn't time for this. He read the order on the neat letterhead quickly.

---------------

Urzu 7,

Your performance has been evaluated as needing improvement regarding the protection of Angel. You are to re-check all security lines at your residences and other places of commune. Board the next train upon its arrival. You are not to wait for the next. As you know, the use of non-encrypted orders is highly insecure. Destroy this order immediately after reading it.

Teletha Testarossa

PS- Further orders have already been sent by the usual means.

---------------

The last part was hand-written. The section specifying which train he was to take meant that no one would be on it. Actually, chances were good that it'd be operated by a Mithril employee of one guise or another.

Sagara took a pair of shotgun shells from his bag and sliced them open with his knife. Shot and gunpowder dropped onto the paper. After spreading the powder over the paper's surface, he set it on the concrete and discharged a round from his weapon. The paper was decimated almost immediately in the resulting small explosion. A brief check for remnants of the paper and Sousuke began gathering the tranquilized girl onto his back again. He grunted at her weight, settling into that forward-bent position that was becoming a little too familiar.

_Never mind that, _he thought, _I've got to start carrying a lighter._ He looked over at the charred bits of paper still fluttering down with a smirk. His nonchalant thoughts consciously rivaled what he was feeling inside after reading that letter.

The SRT stepped off and boarded the train. Doors closed behind him immediately, and hence came the electric smell and lurch of it starting again.

(to be continued...)


	6. Chapter 5: The Train

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 5

----

Sagara was in a strange mood. In the past hour, he'd been in just about every imaginable state of mind, from pride and contentedness when drying this girl (who now sat slumped over on her right side onto the armrest on the bench-seat), to self-hatred and anxiety when confronted with his own failure to notice the enemy presence. In fact, in the end the enemy hadn't even been Amalgam, meaning that if there had ever been an excuse to have missed the clues of hostile presence, it was gone. These were little more than organized thugs. Once he'd successfully rescued the unconscious Chidori Kaname from them, Sousuke had found himself almost grinning, strangely impressed with his performance, and inwardly mocking all the Mithril personnel who would surely reprimand his anti-tactical method of infiltration. He couldn't understand how it was possible that he felt guilty about further endangering "Angel" by just... bursting in, and yet ultimately he felt good about it at the same time.

The train proceeded at a slow pace. A few buildings drew by as a background, overlaid by Chidori, sitting across from him, and the white, unassuming color of the train car interior itself. Sagara stared at the bruised area on Kaname's neck. From this distance, it was hardly noticeable. Sousuke crouched in the aisle, sitting on his ankles, turning Chidori's head slightly and passing two fingers across her neck. The skin was raised slightly, but it was an ultimately superficial wound. Sousuke had to admit he knew very little when it came to tranquilizers. Surprisingly few of his missions had involved them (none that he could recall, in fact), and his mercenary days before joining Mithril had hardly involved the kind of approach that would utilize tranquilizers. As for his missions while under his current employment, Sagara would have to surmise that if an organization like Mithril were to be called in, the situation was no longer able to be suppressed in a non-lethal manner. _At least_, he consciously thought, _that's what we SRTs will tell ourselves_.

The possibility of a tranquilizer dart being used on Kaname couldn't be ruled out. From what he knew, that'd have been the most instantaneous method of suppression. But the bruise didn't seem large or severe enough to have come from a projectile. He did know that tranquilizer darts only worked because they detonated a small charge on impact, injecting the chemical instantly. A charge like that would probably thrash the needle in the victim's body, which would mean internal bleeding, and a much larger-looking bruise. It would all depend on the size of the dart, he supposed. Then there was the possibility of straight injection. How the enemy could've come up behind Chidori silently, then successfully injected a tranquilizer into her neck, was unknown.

Her enemies were not terribly well equipped. Using AK-47 assault rifles in an enclosed area was not a commendable tactic. Only one of the men Sousuke had come across had a shotgun, and there were no submachine guns or suppressed weapons to speak of. If any of them had the chance to fire their weapons, they probably would've missed horribly for the sheer kickback of all the firearms. The unsuppressed weapons meant stray bullets and deafening noise in a hallway like those.

The fact that these weapons were so poorly suited for their situation meant, to Sagara Sousuke, that these men would probably not have had access to military grade tranquilizers. If they were darts, they were probably intended for animals. If it was an injection, it was probably some regularly prescribed tranquilizer intended for anti-anxiety. Sousuke did know of two such medicines: diazepam and droperidol. Both were used in hospitals to sedate patients, but in larger doses they could certainly put a human out of consciousness. It was dangerous to overdose someone like that, though...

Sagara was struck with the shock of intense panic. What if Chidori were to die from this drug? Could an overdose kill her after a time? He had checked her pulse in the renovating area of the station, and found it to be fairly strong, but...

Sousuke grabbed Kaname's face and straightened her forward. He touched her neck and looked at her, hoping for a strong, well-paced heartbeat.

_...doki, doki ...doki, doki…_ the beat was there, but Sagara was so scared his hands were shaking, he couldn't tell how strong it was. He moved his hand down to her chest, pressing so hard for a beat that his knuckles turned white.

Sousuke tried to concentrate. _Calm down, Sousuke. Stop shaking, wait for the heartbeat. She'll be fine._ His body wasn't so sure. He found his other hand forcefully stroking the side of her face. Maybe he was trying to wake her up. Maybe he was trying to get some color back into her pale figure. Maybe he was just panicking. Every time his fingers weren't pressed against Chidori, they were almost vibrating.

_... thump, thump ... ... thump, thump_

Sagara took a deep breath. After several minutes of staring intently at her, counting beats, he let his breath out in relief, his head swimming from lack of oxygen. The heart rate was slowed, but strong. He would check again soon, to make sure it hadn't slowed.

Regaining his composure, Sousuke found his left hand still at her cheek. When he actually looked at her, he realized: In his panic, he'd rubbed her so hard it had hurt her. Several red lines appeared, drawn from around the corner of her mouth to near her earlobe, probably where his thumb had traced. Sagara frowned, and moved closer to inspect his unintentional damage. He smoothed over the abrasions, holding her faced with both hands and mentally kicking himself repeatedly for having hurt her.

Then, when he looked back up to her face again, big, brown, dilated eyes were staring back at him. Kaname stared, groggily gazing at him--or past him, perhaps--with her mouth slightly agape. Sagara froze, finding himself less than ten centimeters from her face, both hands at her cheeks and neck in mid-…caress. He heard his own heart pound in the silence. _When Chidori realizes the situation, she'll..._ Sousuke couldn't decide whether to cringe at one possibility or blush furiously at another. He just found himself staring back anxiously, hunkered down before her.

Several moments passed.

Sagara watched Chidori's pupils return to a more normal size, but the blank look remained on her face. Suddenly, her eyes went to Sousuke's. Sagara recoiled a bit at this, not knowing what to expect.

"Haaa? Sou-- Nnn..." Chidori made slurred attempts at speech. Sousuke watched her slowly pull both arms up from her sides and, with effort, rest them on his shoulders. She was looking at him intently now, though clearly she was mostly oblivious to her surroundings. Then Sagara felt her tug gently... then harder... then she outright pulled him into her. Losing his balance from his position, Sousuke fell, only barely dodging left to miss colliding with Kaname's face directly. He must've looked like a rag doll; flopped over on top of her while she clung to him awkwardly.

"Nnn..." Her voice trailed off into silence. Sagara had been frozen since his landing--if one could call it that--and waited for some further feedback.

...None came. "Ch-Chidor--" He started. Fumbling with what words to actually spit out, he found himself unable to formulate an introductory sentence, or phrase, or any words at all. With no response, it finally dawned on the SRT that Kaname had fallen back asleep or unconscious.

He carefully gathered himself up and stood in the aisle, hanging onto the handrail overhead. Chidori did not look particularly comfortable. She actually hardly looked alive, head laid back, arms and legs splayed, in something of a slouching position on the seat. Her skin was still pale about the face. Still, she had awoken and showed some signs of recognition.

Sousuke couldn't help smiling a little. He sat down between her and the armrest and pulled her by the waist and shoulders a little bit at a time until she finally slipped off the back rest and onto his side. Having lost whatever form of restraint that was normally on it a long while back, Kaname's hair followed the rest of her, and the blanket followed suit.

Sagara looked down at her, now clearly asleep instead of unconscious, as she drew one arm up to hang around his opposite shoulder. She kept that tired look on her face as she snuggled into her pillow--his upper arm. Her hair covered most of her face and, being still wet, sort of swept down across both she and Sousuke. He remembered thinking several times in the past how inefficient it was to have such long hair. Way back before he first met her in person, Sagara had assumed her hair would be short as it was in the picture of her at 14 years old. But now none of that really bothered him. The rain had amplified Kaname's faint scent: perhaps some perfume, or maybe just shampoo, he wasn't sure. Sousuke couldn't help but feel slightly intoxicated by her smell... he'd only noticed it a few times before, but those moments had been chiseled into his permanent memory. After a deep breath he felt his eyes rolling up into his eyelids, and realized just how exhausted he really was. It had been a very stressful and very emotional day, and they still had a long way to go. This thought occurred to him. They could get off the train at their station, but it wasn't nearly as large as the last, and it wasn't enclosed at all. They'd freeze if they were to just rest there. Not only that, but his safe haven of Mithril-controlled space would be no longer once they took a step out of the train. That meant no more relaxing, and no more time to appreciate the--he looked down again once more--little things.

Irritated by the outcome of his train of thought, Sousuke looked outside to see how long he had before he'd have to start waking Chidori up. He pulled her a little closer with an arm wrapped about her shoulders, and let his head hang back, looking up at the ceiling.

_I wonder how many more of these moments there'll be...? Wo futari de... just the two of us_.

Refracted fluorescent lights on a ceiling faded slowly into darkness as Sagara Sousuke drifted off against his will.

...--

"SOUSUKE!"

Sagara nearly fell out of his seat. He felt a large wet spot down his left side that was getting very cold. Across the aisle sat Chidori, now clearly awake, looking stern. The train was still moving.

Sousuke looked down at where Kaname had been, somehow hoping that the cute, sleepy one was still there and the angry, very-much-awake Chidori was just a hallucination.

...No such luck. Sagara was very cold in that area... very cold. Her hair must've had a lot of water left on it that soaked into his uniform. Actually, come to think of it, her wake up call hadn't been particularly loud, but it sure sounded that way over the rhythmic hum of the train. He groaned audibly.

Chidori snapped back, "It's not 'aauggh'! We could've missed our stop, you know. It's the next one. But before that, you're going to have to explain how I got here in the first place!"

So she didn't remember... Sagara would spare her as many details as possible, but there'd be some explaining to do regarding the bruise on her neck... and--he grimaced-- the abrasions on her face. Sousuke stared out the window behind Chidori. Outside the storm was subsiding, but the rain was hardly down to the point of a "shower" yet. Perhaps they could get a taxi the rest of the way. Probably not, the drivers on second shift would've just gone home for the day by now, and third shift was likely to have been cancelled in this weather. There was some level of irony in how the storm hadn't really gotten better... it had just transferred some of its rage into the girl before him.

"I'm waiting..."

Sousuke sat up. He took a deep breath, sighed it out, and began an explanation.  
"As you may recall, we were... I was... caught off guard at the train station. Hostiles I assumed to be Amalgam surrounded us. We successfully suppressed the first group in the hallway, but the radioman fled, and I was forced to give chase. Due to a lack of foresight on my part, I left you with a fragmentary grenade as your only means of protection while I attempted to disable the radioman."

"Disable?" Chidori interrupted. Sagara continued.

"Roughly thirty-five seconds later, I returned to find that you were no longer in that position..." he said regretfully.

"...and then?"

"Your location was mistakenly broadcast to me over the radio I had procured."

"So you came and got me..." she didn't sound as mad anymore, but she still seemed generally displeased.

"Yes. Hostile resistance was minimal."

"Minimal?"

"Yes. At any rate, I checked your vitals and moved to enter the train."

"And those guys just let you go?"

"They were... subdued."

Chidori gave a nasty look.

"...non-lethally... subdued."

She followed with a little smile, "Good."

Sagara had omitted any information regarding the condition of the group in the hallway. "I was confronted by Wraith upon exiting. He gave me written orders, which informed me that this train was safe to take us to our normal station."

"...No more bad guys...?" Kaname said finally.

"No more bad guys."

"No problems?"

"No problem."

She had just wanted to hear him say that, and everything would be fine. Absolutely fine… maybe.

Sousuke watched Chidori's expression take a 180 degree turn. She grinned at him, nodding her head with a "Nn!" of affirmation. Before Sagara's confusion could turn into a question, Kaname pointed out the window in one direction.

"We're about to stop."

"Wait, Chidori... there's one more thing..."

Kaname looked back at him, a bit concerned.

"Hmm?"

Sousuke paused briefly. "...I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for letting you get into that mess... then letting you get captured... and..." He knew that she would remember their pass through the hallway. Even if she'd momentarily forgotten, it wouldn't be long before she remembered that bloody spectacle.

"...and what?"

"And that I killed..."

Kaname paused for a minute. "Sousuke... it's alright..."

"No, it's not alright. First I didn't notice those amateurs, then I shot vital points assuming they were professionals, and then I left you to be captured, killed, or worse after simply tossing a grenade at you, as though that would do you any good."

Chidori was silent.

"It's ridiculous, I've been a total failure today, and... ...and those orders I got just prove it even more."

Kaname waited a moment. The train started to slow down. "...What did the orders say?"

Sousuke recited immediately, with an even more militaristic voice than usual. "Urzu 7. Your performance has been evaluated as needing improvement regarding the protection of Angel."

"They said that? Just that?"

"Mostly." It hadn't hit Sousuke until a moment ago just how much weight those orders carried. This wasn't just Wraith trying to get under his skin. "The Response Division, apparently, finds my recent failures unacceptable. I would have to agree with them."

"Sousuke, you know I don't want anyone else to--"

"I know. ...I know." He sighed at length, and then stood up. But before he was aware, he had risen directly in front of Kaname who had also stood, again not ten centimeters from her face.

They both froze; neither backed up. Then, a few blinks of the eye later they both heard the door open and moved in tandem, not saying a word. They bent down simultaneously, collected their bags from the seats, and went to the door.

Having stepped just outside, they stood still while the doors closed behind them.

Ding! The train made an electronic noise that it was leaving, and a brush of wind told the two that it had now gone... just like that.

Silence, aside from the ambient patter of rain on the roof of the station and the train tracks, enveloped the awkward mood.

"Well then," Kaname said at last, not glancing his way, "I suppose we should get moving..."

"Roger," was his immediate reply. A moment later, a hand was offered in Chidori's direction. She looked for a moment, and then slowly placed hers in his palm.

"I'm going!" Tightening his grip, Sousuke took off, Kaname trailing a pace behind.

(to be continued...)


	7. Chapter 6: Accursed Ambulance!

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 6

----

Sergeant Sagara hadn't forgotten to take his hostile awareness up a few notches once he left the train. He had, however, forgotten to mention the tranquilizer used on Chidori when he was explaining what had happened. He pondered his mistake briefly. _Maybe I had better not say anything after all, if she really doesn't remember..._ A large puddle in the sidewalk threatened their route. Sousuke dodged left, Chidori did the same a beat behind.

Their hands clung together tightly. In their other hands were their school bags, one containing several notebooks and a diary, the other a downsized (but still effective) collection of weaponry. From the sky poured large drops of rain, each one making a distinct _PLAT!_ sound as it hit the concrete. A few stray cars drove in the opposite direction.

Kaname's breathing was audibly labored. The tranquilizer hadn't worn off yet, and she was having a hard time keeping her eyes focused forward. It was good thing, she thought, that Sousuke had taken her hand. Raindrops penetrated her layers of hair and washed over her scalp in an unpleasantly cold manner. Looking down, Kaname found her uniform in remotely decent condition. She surmised that whatever ordeal she had been through while knocked out had been relatively calm, as there were no cuts or tears to be seen. Of course, when Sousuke was involved, "relatively calm" meant very little. The poor red bow at her neck had been mangled at some point. She half-consciously tried to straighten it but found it impossible with the bag still in her hand.

Sagara seemed to be rushing things. Chidori found herself pulled more than led along the path. She stumbled a few times, garnering a worried look from Sousuke, but it was brief. When it happened again, she grinned to herself. She remembered being in that abandoned hospital with him. In a deserted hall, a phone had ringed on a desk nearby, scaring the living daylights out of her. Sousuke, ever the soldier, calmly found a piece of rubble and lobbed it at the receiver, knocking it off. After explaining the concept of a telephone bomb, he answered the call. He told the person on the other end that the hospital was closed and that they should call 119 if they had an emergency. He turned to her and said they weren't listening. When Kaname took the receiver, she heard a terrifying scream from the other end of the line. When she recoiled in fear again, Sagara gave her a concerned look. The same concerned look he had just given her here on the street. Of course, in the hospital this look did nothing but irritate her (Those eyes... _Grr!_), but now she was tempted to fake a stumble again just so she could watch those eyebrows turn in and those dilated, brown eyes look right at her...

Her thoughts were becoming a little clearer now, but it still felt like she had been hit with a sack of bricks or something of similar mass. She rubbed her face again. Her cheek had been hurting for some reason, but she didn't feel any cuts. It wasn't serious, she figured. All things considered, Sousuke had brought them through another dangerous ordeal unscathed: exactly how she knew he would when he gave her that intense look in the train station hallway. How she'd been captured, what Sagara had done to those who kidnapped her... they were all details she didn't care to know, at least not just yet. She couldn't have been more pleased with the sight she'd woken up to.

_Speaking of which_, she thought, _what _did_ I wake up to?_ She seemed to remember waking up twice, but obviously that was impossible. _One time he had his arm around me... but was sleeping like a baby against that armrest. But it seems like I woke up before that... he was... holding..._ She shook her head. That one had to be a dream. There's no way Sousuke would be about to... to... She brought her bag up to her face and touched her lips with two fingers, lost in thought.

She remembered the couple of times she had been in the opposite position, though. Most recently when she gave him the haircut... Kaname sighed contentedly. Hadn't she just run through that memory in her mind an hour or two ago? She didn't really care. She'd remember it as many times as it took.

..._WHOP_. A raindrop that felt like it was the size of a golf ball nailed Chidori Kaname right in the nose. Freezing cold rain washed over her mouth and neck.

"Aaaaagh!" She yelled at the rain. "Sousuke! Slow down a minute, will you?"

Sagara looked back. Seeing Chidori trying to dry her face with a completely soaked sleeve, he stopped. There wasn't any cover nearby, the street they were on was more residential than the city landscape from before, and so there were no awnings or covered ways to be found.

"We're almost there, Chidori, only a few blocks to go," he said between breaths.

Chidori attempted to shield herself from the rain using her bag.

She cried out pathetically, "No more! I can't go on anymore!" She was rather comical in her despair. One might've been reminded of another certain occasion where melodrama was feigned….

Sagara smiled despite his urgency and walked back to meet her, moving to her side and holding his bag above hers. The water bounced off loudly, splattering in his face. He blinked forcibly and watched her turn to him.

"...Thanks..." she said with a sort of sheepish half-smile. They were still holding hands. Like a standard attachment of some sort, letting go just wasn't an option.

This was the same smile he'd been getting a lot lately. It almost seemed, to Sousuke, that it was a smile she didn't really want to give him, so she held part of it back. Still, she was looking at him intently.

Sousuke looked rather ridiculous, holding his bag above her, being hit with several redirected raindrops. Kaname would've laughed at him if he didn't look so serious. She started thinking the way she had before the train station. She knew, because of the events in the past few weeks, that Sousuke no longer considered her just a mission objective. She also knew, from his apology not half an hour ago, that he had even changed how he worked as a soldier because of her. She found herself mentally moving towards his eyes, as though being drawn inside them... She was lost in them now... they were locked on her as hers were on him... The patter of rain on Sousuke's bag drew into a pleasant rhythm.

Then, suddenly, Sagara's attention was pulled away. He dropped his bag and yanked Chidori by the shoulders to him. Kaname found herself thrown into Sousuke's chest in utter surprise. She threw her arms up, bracing for the impact. The sounds of their bags hitting the ground and stumbled footsteps resounded, and Chidori found herself in a somewhat classic position. Before she could think anything else a wave of cold water washed over her calves.

"Kyaa!" She had let out an unusually girlish yelp. She looked up at Sousuke who had just been hit by the same wave. _But _he_ had pants on, that jerk._

He yelled at the car that was now halfway down the road, and he yelled in English, oddly enough. Kaname couldn't understand what he'd said exactly, but it had been something about a fire and being in a hurry. She was staring intently at him, while his attention returned to her. He opened his mouth, surely to say "Some people..." or "Are you alright?" but he was silenced when Kaname touched her finger to his lips before he even started. A wet, wonderfully scented girl slid her index finger off of his lip, catching his chin slightly on the way down.

Kaname turned her head and leaned against Sousuke. He was warm. Warmer than anything else today and warmer than he'd ever felt before. She had her arms tucked between the two of them, flattened against his uniform. Her hair shielded her back from the rain, and her legs... she couldn't feel anything in her legs anymore but they didn't matter at all, so long as they kept her standing right where she was. It wasn't the first time she had felt almost like she was in a 'cheap novel,' to use her own words… and yet….

After a long moment she smiled as she felt two arms slide from her shoulders down to her waist, pulling her those few extra millimeters closer that made her heart leap ten times as far in her chest. She wanted to look up, to see his expression... his softened face that had only been shown a few times. But it wasn't worth moving. It wasn't worth the chance.

But now... something incredible was happening, and imagining where it was going made Kaname almost delirious with anticipation. One of those arms was coming back up... she felt it slide up under her hair. Kaname let out her breath and took it back in again, holding it, lest breathing take any of her concentration away. His hand reached the back of her head, just above the neck... Chidori tensed with excitement...

He pulled her head gently into his chest, fingers tangled gently in her wet hair.

Kaname's eyes rolled up into her head. She closed them, listening to Sagara's heartbeat--fast and loud--through his uniform. This hadn't been what she was anticipating, but... _Sousuke... you did it so well_. Her heart had to have been pounding at double the speed his was. When she thought about him pulling her up to... to... She let out her breath again and took it back in. She held it once more. No, she thought. She didn't want any more than just this. She swallowed once and licked the accumulating water off of her lips.

Sousuke was staring. Staring at the other side of the road, but he may as well have been staring at a black hole. He couldn't look down; it was too overwhelming what he was feeling to see it at the same time. He couldn't close his eyes either; somehow both were too embarrassing.

One thing had led to another... he had operated on instincts. Instincts that felt very different from the ones he'd used on the battlefield. Instincts that brought one hand down only to bring it back up again in a manner devoid of logic, especially in this weather. And instincts that relayed her heartbeat as beckoning him to continue. He was at the end of what his body would do naturally. Now all he could do was feel its result.

The rising siren of an ambulance startled both Sousuke and Kaname, and they found themselves separated. They watched the undesirable vehicle pass by... watched it disappear down the road... unwilling to turn back to the other... unwilling to reveal their expression.

Slowly, the rain pelting down reminded them of their position. Sousuke bent down and picked up Chidori's bag, which seemed to have survived the most recent onslaught. He handed it to her without looking up and went for his. Sagara's bag had seen better days. Victim of many a raindrop, and now a significant wave of road wash, water poured out from the seams when he picked it up.

Sagara finally snapped out of what was left of his delirium when he realized there was a taser in the bag. It had been wet this entire time...

_Hmm. If it were going to shock someone, it would've done it by now._ He didn't bother to open it and see the condition of his weapons. In this mindset, though, he subconsciously checked for his pistol, which remained tucked into his belt. _Security, Sagara. Security._ He refocused his mind on his surroundings, and presented his hand firmly to Chidori, who took several seconds before she returned hers. Sousuke took off, trying to think about Amalgam. About Mithril. About Wraith. About... _ugh_. She was a step behind again, following his every move.

A few minutes of running later, Sousuke finally looked back at her. She sighed in relief inwardly. He was pointing at her apartment complex. _Home Sweet Home, is it? _thought she. After dodging some more puddles in their sprint, the two found themselves leaning against the wall of her apartment, panting.

Sagara acted quickly. "Chidori, take the alternate route to your room we mapped out earlier. I'll check security on the main route. I'll signal you by the normal means when I get to your room, so wait for me there, okay? And be careful." Sousuke reached for his pistol and offered it to her, grip first. Kaname took a step back.

"I... I don't need that!" she barked.

"Take it. Even if they just know you're armed, it will reduce the chances--"

"No, _thank_ you." she said sternly. "Besides," she reached into the relatively dry interior of her bag and produced a stun gun. "I still have this."

Kaname drew the weapon and pointed it with both hands at Sousuke, with a little grin. Sagara recoiled, and the rain running down his face looked suspiciously like sweat.

"Oh come on, I'm not gonna accidentally shoot you." She laughed at his expression.

She had carried one of these ever since the ordeal on the rooftop that had ended with meeting Leonard Testarossa for the first time. _That_ son of a--. Why did she have to start thinking about him now? Well… he did have a single good trait… one that Sousuke sure didn—_Argh! What am I thinking after what just happened a moment ago?_

"In that case," said Sousuke, "we should move out." He checked his watch, nodded once to Kaname, who returned the nod, and dashed in.

Chidori walked around the back of the apartment. It was fairly well lit, and she didn't feel unsafe. Maybe she should, considering she was in enemy hands once again just an hour or two ago. But more recently than that was an occurrence that was sticking in her mind even more. She took the stairs two at a time, more than ready to get inside her room. By the last flight of stairs, she had already proposed to herself several possibilities for what would happen when she let him in a short while from now. She was prepared for all of them. Sousuke was a soldier; he didn't run from anything, whether it had a baseball bat or a rocket launcher. But he would run from her. She knew he would. She wouldn't let him go just yet.

When she arrived at her door, she looked for the little blue triangle at the top. She was reminded of when Sousuke first told her to use it. It was a while after Leonard Testarossa appeared in her previous room. She remembered it clearly.

_"Chidori, we need to increase the security of this apartment. But as of right now it's not possible for me to install a thorough system. For now, use this paper." He handed the little blue thing to her. "Just put here, at the top of your door when you close it. Make sure you close the door tight and lock it. Then if anyone enters the room the paper will fall out and you can know there's an intruder before you come in. I promise to replace this crude system with a countermeas--" _

She had stopped him there, and told him something like "There's no way you're putting one of your death traps in my_ apartment. I'll use this, but only because you asked me nicely."_

She smiled and opened the door, setting the tiny paper on the night stand when she walked in. The door shut behind her and she turned on half of the lights. She squinted as the color washed out of her vision. Even these lights were too bright. She turned on a lamp and turned the overhead lights off entirely. She wanted to take a shower, but she had to wait until she let Sousuke in before that. _And_, she thought, _I have to keep him from leaving while I'm in the shower_.

...Several minutes passed, with Chidori checking her watch over and over again. She shivered in her clothes, wanting to change. She could just imagine getting completely undressed only to have Sousuke knock just then. The events were playing out in her mind. She'd say "Just a minute, I'm getting dressed!" "What was that? Chidori? Are you alright?" and he would burst in the door, gun drawn, without giving her time to answer. That's definitely what would happen. She shivered again.

...Several more minutes passed, and Kaname was now a little worried. She thought, _if Mithril had told him security was lacking here, maybe someone really did get inside the building, intending to ambush me, but he got Sousuke instead. _But then, Sousuke was specifically looking for holes in his security measures around the apartment building, no one could get the better of him in that state.

Finally, the series of knocks on various parts of the door came through. It was some complicated knock Sagara had dreamed up and repeated to her several times. She just agreed and said she had the knock memorized; knowing no one in their right mind could duplicate it or anything like it anyway.

"Comiiing!" she said as though they hadn't seen each other in days.

The door swung halfway open and Kaname's drenched, but grinning, face appeared in the crack. "Yes? What can I do for you, sir?"

"...Chidori... uh..."

"Oh! You must be the security guy. Come in, come in!" She held out a welcoming hand in the direction of the bedroom."

Sagara stared at her in confusion as he walked in. The door closed behind him as he began checking some of the more discreet security equipment he'd had time to set up. The truth was, he hadn't been terribly concerned with bugging everything and setting up several pinhole surveillance cameras because, for one, Chidori would have had a fit, and for two, a certain conversation with the Student Council President, Hayashimizu, had left Sagara wondering whether they'd be living here much longer anyway. Those thoughts had been weighing heavily on his mind since that time.

"Does everything appear in order, sir?"

Sousuke's mood had improved slightly since entering the warm room. "Yes ma'am. All security devices are operating properly. If you'll excuse me, I can attend to the remote monitoring dev--"

"I think not."

"...U-- uhh?" Sousuke had tried to play along a little, but Chidori was the one playing the game here, apparently.

"I don't feel safe just yet. I think you need to check it over again while I take a shower, Mr. Security. And don't you dare leave while I'm in there or I'll walk over to that 'remote surveillance facility' of yours in nothing but a towel and beat your door down!" She was grinning while she threatened him.

Sousuke felt cornered. "But, Chidori, I too have to--"

"Take a shower here, then. I won't be long." "Bye bye" she cooed in English, and closed the bathroom door behind her.

Sagara hung his head. She'd trapped him, at least for a while. It was probably good, though, to spend a little more time checking the security here. He walked out to the balcony and looked over to his apartment. Nothing seemed out of place there. He walked back in to inspect the contents of his bag and attempt to rescue any water-damaged weapon components. Before he got to the front door he heard the bathroom door unlatch and creak open slightly. He turned around to see the sliver-image of Chidori in a bath towel.

"Oh yeah," she said, "you might want to put your clothes out to dry now."

"Ah," responded Sousuke, "I'll just dry them when I get back to the apartment."

"That won't do, Sousuke."

He looked confused. Just the way she intended. "Why is that?"

She gave an expression of being extremely insulted through the cracked door. She frowned, then said, before closing the door a final time, "...Because you're sleeping here with me tonight."

...--

Sagara was beet red. He had to be, Kaname could just imagine it. She held closed her fist tightly. _Victory!_

She had deliberately given him the wrong impression. She had realized several minutes ago that Sousuke would try to escape after he had held her in the street. He would act all businesslike and go back to his apartment, then pretend nothing had happened the next day. But Kaname wouldn't allow that. This time she had a good excuse for keeping him with her a little longer, and she was going to use it. The best (or most fun) way to get him to agree to stay at her apartment was to first give him the wrong impression. She'd done that successfully (_and with a nice touch of implied nudity_, she thought sadistically. _The old undressed-behind-the-door trick never fails. _As soon as she thought this, she realized it wasn't as though she'd tried it before.). Next, she would emerge from the bathroom after taking a nice long shower, and say "So did you set up your futon or would you like me to?" Then he'd relax. He'd mentally accept the idea of sleeping there simply because it was not the extreme situation he surely had in mind. _You're a genius, Kana_. She congratulated herself.

If he put up any more of a fuss, she would just look very defenseless and claim to feel unsafe without him there. No one was immune to the defenseless look. Kaname's eyes narrowed evilly. Not even Sousuke.

She almost felt sorry for him, the way she was manipulating his every thought. But he needed this kind of exposure. That she was sure of.

The shower was very warm. Kaname went over her plan several times, and got out of the shower only because she wanted to see Sousuke's face when she got back out... that nervous wreck of a face.

She opened the bathroom door, wearing the bath towel over her lingerie.

"So did you set up your futon or would you like me to?" she asked before she looked.

...There sat Sousuke, still clothed, calmly cleaning his gun with tools laid out across the table. He had found a towel to sit on as not to damage her furniture. Kaname stood, mouth agape, unable to speak, for several moments before he responded.

"Ah. No, I shall sleep under the bed, but thank you for offering."

Chidori fell to the ground instantaneously, making a loud crashing noise.

Sousuke continued. "I also think it's a good idea for me to stay here for tonight. It will give me a chance to examine the areas I cannot see from across the street in the nighttime."

Kaname twitched on the floor.

"It never hurts to have more security," he concluded matter-of-factly.

She was back up to standing in an equally short period of time, fists at her side. "You didn't--! You weren't even--!"

Sousuke looked up at her curiously.

"Kuuu!" Chidori made an angry noise, gathered her pajamas that she'd laid out earlier, and slammed the bathroom door behind her.

Sagara looked down at his dismantled weapon. "Hmm," he said, "I did not think she would be so upset about cleaning a pistol on the table..."

(to be continued...)


	8. Chapter 7: Worst Fears Realized

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 7

----

She leaned back against the door she had just slammed.

_Same old Sousuke,_ she said to herself. She ground her teeth just thinking about it again. Kaname hadn't seen him at the time, but he could just imagine that patronizing look on his face. He'd have been holding an index finger up when he stated, _"It never hurts to have extra security."_

_Ch-- Gu-- Grrr!_ It was enough to make her...

She sighed in defeat, sliding down the door to a sitting position. Her towel hadn't followed suit properly, so she had to adjust herself when she sat on the cold tile with little protection. Chidori hung her head.

_Well, what are you so upset about, Kana? You got what you wanted, right? He's sleeping here..._

It was true; she was certainly pleased with the fact. She found herself daydreaming again. She'd wake up with the sun pouring in, the smell of freshly cooked rice in the air... With the sun warming her skin she'd roll over and open her eyes to see Sousuke in the kitchen, casual clothes, with apron, finishing up breakfast. He'd say, "You don't have to get up just yet, darling... please wait just a bit longer."

Back in the bathroom of reality, she was shivering at her own imagined scenario. Maybe it was the idea of Sousuke cooking her breakfast... or maybe him looking somewhat normal... or maybe him using the pet name...

...Or maybe it's because she didn't have any clothes on and was still sitting on the bathroom floor.

She sprang up and got dressed quickly. She buttoned up her blue striped pajama shirt and stretched in front of the mirror. This shirt was getting a little small for her. Her shoulders and chest brought the hem of the shirt up to her navel while she straightened her elbows, arms high above her head. A cold draft found its way to her stomach. After another shiver, Chidori rubbed herself warm again, and then stepped back to the door. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to open the door, fully expecting one or more appliances to be dismantled, with Sousuke claiming he saw evidence of a bomb.

...A completely different sight met her eyes. There stood Sousuke in his white uniform shirt and pants, barefoot. He was next to the bed, arms crossed behind him. The bed sheets had one corner pulled back.

Kaname glanced away in disbelief, gaze falling on the table, no longer crowded with military equipment but... clean? …Cleaner than it had been before she came in. She was amazed.

Sousuke spoke, "You must be tired, Chidori, please get some rest. I'll try to make my shower brief as not to disturb you."

He was answered with silence. Having not received an acceptable response, he walked over and slowly guided her by the shoulders to the bedside. He pulled up the covers, and Kaname slowly got in, staring back at him blankly. Sousuke took time and care tucking the bewildered girl in before moving to the lamp and reaching to turn it off.

"W--wait..." Chidori interrupted. "Look this way for a second..."

Sagara obeyed, turning to her gaze. She looked back at him for several moments before rolling over in silence.

"Thanks, Sousuke. Good night..." There was some disappointment in her voice-- that much he could detect. The reason he couldn't discern, but Sagara was willing to bet no amount of thought would garner success in that area.

"Good night, Chidori." The lamp went off and Sousuke padded quietly over to the bathroom, closing the door slowly.

_Click_

Chidori lay in silence for several moments after hearing the door close... She had imagined so much more happening tonight. But maybe this was alright. She was definitely tired. She had felt completely exhausted ever since...  
Kaname's train of thought ended prematurely as she slipped out of consciousness.

Sagara disrobed and stepped into Kaname's shower. It was a nice shower. It smelled like her. It must've been the shampoo she used that he kept smelling. Maybe he should find out what brand it was. He looked over in the corner. There was a rack of at least nine bottles of various hair care items. Sousuke almost lost his balance. _Such a complicated system! I didn't realize women were so skilled in these areas._ He inspected some of the items. Shampoos, conditioners, and several other products whose purpose he could not determine. He found himself opening the bottle caps and smelling the various liquids while waiting for the water to warm up. He quickly found the one he was looking for. A wave of delirium hit him as that scent he'd been seeking came, stronger than ever. He took note of the brand and type. Perhaps the next time he was on the Tuatha De Danaan he would bring-- Sousuke stopped himself. _Now I am just sounding like one of those perverts Chidori used to claim I was. I had best stop this idea here and now._ He replaced the bottle on the rack and attempted to find something less... floral to wash with. There was a normal-looking bar of glycerin soap (By normal, at least it didn't have an easily mispronounce-able name), and a miniature bottle of shampoo that appeared to have come from some hotel. He opened it and tested its scent. It smelled like soap, thankfully. Sousuke washed his hair. A strong-scented shampoo could prove a disadvantage if he had to hide from an enemy... never mind the strange looks he'd get at school.

When he went to replace the small bottle, he happened to read the label. ...It was that of a love hotel. The kind of place Chidori certainly wouldn't be. So why would she have a bottle of shampoo from a place like this? It looked fairly new. Sagara knew better than to ask her about it personally, though. Probably some friend of hers had given it to her as a prank or something. Bringing it up might be offensive. Sousuke shrugged it off and finished his shower.

While a shower was normally pretty refreshing, all the scents and the unusually warm water temperature had the opposite effect on Sagara. The events of the day were wearing heavily on his energy level, and by the time he had put his somewhat dry underclothing back on he was almost unable to stand. He was downright exhausted. He looked in the mirror to see obvious dark areas under his eyes.

_Health depleting rapidly... the security inspection will have to wait; I will not be able to make a proper analysis tonight._

Sousuke drearily emerged from the bathroom, still attempting to stay quiet. He remembered his pistol halfway out, and grudgingly stumbled back to the bathroom to retrieve it.

Back in the steamy room, he picked the sidearm up and checked its ammunition. A bullet was chambered as usual. He couldn't put the gun in his belt because his uniform pants had been too wet to wear. He'd have to sleep with it in hand. Having to bring the gun up close to his face in order to check the status of the safety, Sagara noticed his gun now smelled like... flowers.

_How unfortunate._ He thought.

Before he really knew what was happening, he had pulled himself under the bed and lay down on his side. He always slept under his bed, but this one was bigger than usual. _Why does she require such a large bed? Women are strange creatures indeed._ Sousuke's thoughts didn't last much longer, as he immediately fell asleep on the bare floor.

----

Something wasn't right. Something was very not right. Sousuke awoke in a completely different place. He wasn't even lying down anymore. This place felt almost surreal, yet it was too vivid to have been his imagination, he was sure. As soon as his eyes were open he found himself sitting, chained to a wall in a cold, dank building. He heard noises above the rattles of his chains. He recognized the voices immediately and his heart leapt in surprise.

_"Yeah, I bet he thought he took care of us."  
"Ahahah, we'll show him, that bastard."  
_

It was the voices of the men he had confronted in the train station… the ones who had kidnapped Chidori. In fact, that's probably where he was now--the train station again. How had he ended up here? What happened? Why was this place so dark?

_"Hey, get over her, woman!"_

_Oh no..._ Sousuke panicked as the searing truth hit him. _No, no, no, no, no!_ They had Chidori again. Worse still, he was in no position to fight back. His weapon lay in front of him, bullets scattered, clip removed, and the slide on top of the gun was off completely. Even if he weren't chained to the wall it would take several minutes to properly reassemble the weapon. His wrists were bound tightly--not an amateur job. He couldn't get out of this.

Sagara yanked on the chains. He tried to yell to Chidori, to tell her to run. All that came out was a muffled noise. He had been gagged, and he hadn't even realized it until now. He sat against this wall, unsure of what was going on behind and to the side of him. He was in his underwear, now dirty and torn.

_"Nooo! Get off of me!"_

It was definitely her voice, and it was raspy and forced. She sounded like she'd been fighting them off for hours now. How did they get both of them? Sousuke couldn't think straight. He couldn't think at all. How was any of this even possible? But the horror was far from over. From his left side emerged one of the men. Sousuke only saw his legs: his shins were completely destroyed, his calves ripped apart, the lower part of the man looked like a mangled corpse. He looked up at a scarred, bloody face, grinning down at him.

"Thought you got off easy, didn't you? Hahahah, we'll see who gets off easy."

**CRAACCcckk**

Sousuke felt like the back of his head had just exploded. The man had kicked his head into the wall with all his might. Hanging limp by the chains from the single blow, he felt blood trickle down his neck. His skull was probably fractured.

"Cheh! Weakling. But I can't beat you up like I want to, not yet. We've got a little show for you first."

Sousuke heard another man approach.

"Just think of this as return payment for what you did to us earlier," was the new voice's introduction.

Through blurred vision Sagara could make out that this was the large man who was guarding the door the last time. He held the same foreign pistol in one hand. He spoke again.

"Come on, hurry it up!"

Now Sousuke heard shuffling footsteps, and screams from Kaname, coming around the corner.

"No! Let go! Let go of me! Le--" A sickening impact was heard. Sagara looked up as Kaname's figure emerged. Her nose had just been broken with the handle of the gun. The man had outright pistol-whipped her in the face.

"Nnn!" Sousuke tried to scream in protest through the gag. Nothing significant came out. Chidori's eyes met with his. He watched blood flow quickly down her mouth and chin as tears began to fill his eyes to match hers.

This was exactly the kind of scene Gauron had put Sousuke over the edge with. All the talk about beating her, killing her, that led to Sagara emptying half a clip into the bed-ridden man's torso. But now there was nothing he could do. Now it was actually happening right in front of him and he had no backup, no gun, no arms, no speech, nothing.

Behind Chidori was a third man, the leader of the group who had threatened to harm Kaname if Sousuke didn't stop his attack earlier. His right side was blown apart. Sousuke could see bone fragments in his flesh in the leg, and the arm which was restraining Kaname. They dragged her directly in front of him, just a meter away. The man with the foreign gun punched her in the stomach, causing her to keel over. She fell to the floor vomiting.

"Sou...su..." She tried say his name before the radioman with destroyed shins kicked her in the face, causing her to fall to her back. She was in her school uniform again, and Sagara could now clearly see scratches and bruises on her inner thighs, leading up to her crotch. What these men had or had not done was unknown to Sousuke, but he pulled with all his strength, screaming into the cloth gag at length, and getting nowhere.

There was absolutely nothing he could do but watch.

Sagara heard shuffling from behind the wall again. Somehow it sounded so unnatural that he had to look away from Chidori for a moment. From the corner emerged something that could not have been human. A pile of flesh in the vague shape of a man scratched its way to the scene, leaving a trail of dark blood. When the corpse looked straight at him with one eye and one socket where an eye might have been, Sousuke realized... this was the man who'd had several parts blown away in the first attack. The smell of burnt flesh and sulfur was sickening enough to add to the disgusting sight. This man... or this thing, who was once a man, had been seared on one side of his body from being too close to the flash bang grenade when it had detonated.

The thing made it to its destination with the other men, surrounding Kaname, who was still in plain sight.

"She won't survive much longer after what we've already done. Better go ahead and finish it. I can't wait to see the look on this guys face." It was the radioman speaking, and he looked over to Sousuke with a grin that was unnaturally wide.

The man with the alien weapon grabbed Kaname by the hair and lifted her up to a kneeling position in front of Sousuke. Her cries of pain lent her no mercy, as he continued to pull until she was forced to stand.

Tears rolled down her beaten face, and a pool of blood from her nose had soaked her white uniform shirt to match the bow.

"Well then," said the leader, drawing a large, jagged knife from his belt. The knife was not intended for combat. It was roughly serrated, several holes and ridges in the blade, it looked like something from a science fiction film--an avid collector's item.

The man didn't hesitate.

"Want to kiss your girlfriend goodbye?"

He shoved the side of the blade to Sousuke's mouth. Blood stains in the shape of his gagged lips were left on the blade. As the leader pulled the blade away Sousuke saw his own destroyed face and the blood on the wall behind him superimposed on the scene of Kaname, about to be slaughtered but trying to stay strong despite her tears.

The blade sailed into her mid-stomach.

"_HUUghhh!"_ A disgusting grunt mixed with a scream came from Kaname, who stared through Sousuke, whose eyes were as wide as hers.

Each of the gory men stared intently at Sousuke while Chidori was dealt her deathblow.

The man bent his knees, placed his other hand on the knife grip, and drove the blade up through Kaname's stomach and past her sternum. A flood of blood and stomach acid fell from her abdomen as she expended her last breath to regurgitate a large amount of blood onto Sousuke, who did not blink as the blood covered his face. He watched her fall into her own vomit, her own gore, and Sagara's own dismantled gun, not half a meter from him.

_CHIDORI! CHIDORI! CHIDORI!_

The scene was so incomprehensible that Sousuke could only repeatedly--mentally--scream her name unsuccessfully, begging for some response.

She was dead. Kaname was dead. His worst fears realized, they'd raped her, then beat and killed her in front of him, and she'd fallen dead atop his pistol, while her killers grinned at his expression.

Sousuke felt his stomach react and his own acids came up his throat. About to choke on it, Sousuke heard something distant, getting louder...

_...na-chan, wake up!_

_Kweeeeeeh! Kana-chan, you're late! Kweeeeeeeh!_

Sousuke felt something cold in his hand...

(to be continued…)


	9. Chapter 8: Early Morning

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 8

----

_"_Kweeeeeh! Kana-chan! You're late! Kweeeeeeh!"

An otherwise motionless lump under the covers, Kaname fumbled and reached for the alarm clock.

"Kweeeeh! Wake up, Kana-chan!"

Finding the nightstand, and then the bird-shaped clock at long last, she slowly pressed the button.

"Kwee--"

Groggy as could be, Chidori lie motionless, hand still atop the clock, with her face in her pillow.

"Not yeet" she moaned. The "yet" turned into a long, muffled yawn and a series of grumbles at her unfortunate awakening.

An indistinct noise followed. _It was just getting good, too. Ugh..._

Kaname spent several seconds willing her hand to move back to the soft warmth of the bed so she could return to sleep. She mustered enough energy to slide the hand off the clock, but it bumped into something cold instead of landing on the nightstand...

Chidori felt the object. Something seemed familiar about it, but it was foreign all the same, and notably colder than the rest of the room... It felt like a metal rod with a notch on the end of it. Her hand moved down a little further. Not a rod, no... it felt more like... like...

_Nah... …._

...Hey, wait a minute... last night...

Something was coming together, but it was still foggy in her mind.

_...What happened last night, again?_

She moved her hand further down the object. Something just a bit warmer was placed below it... a lot of these things, actually. Her hand traced up a little further... this was an object she remembered... but from where? A little further and there was cloth again... but it was a little damp...

_That feels kind of like a... what was that thing again...?_

...wrist... yeah, a wrist... but why would there...

Kaname's head rolled to one side and she slowly and painfully opened an eye half way.

_Hmm, there's the clock... and there's..._

She tried to focus.

_...a... ...gun?_

It didn't matter what state of conscious Kaname was in. A gun meant only one thing. An attachment to a certain person...

"Sousuke..." She said without any real emotion one way or the other.

"...Sousuke." Kaname groaned and lifted her head from the pillow, propping herself up on an elbow. Her eyes were still mostly closed.

"Why clock here gun? Wait..." Something about that sentence wasn't quite right. She would try again.

"Gunpoint here you... you... when...?" _What was I trying to say again?_

She growled at her grogginess. She really wasn't a morning person, after all. Kaname blinked hard several times and squinted to focus on Sousuke.

"What are you doing, pointing a gun at--" Kaname gasped when the picture before her came into clarity. Her hand shot back and covered her mouth in shock.

"...Sousuke! Are you... are... you alright!"

He hardly looked like a man anymore. Sagara's white shirt was damp with sweat, sticking to him in several places. The shirt could've been mistaken for bed linens for how poorly it was fit on him. One arm's sleeve was up to his shoulder, the hem of the shirt was stuck wrinkled at his chest. More importantly than that, his hands were shaking slightly but uncontrollably. His eyes were bloodshot, and large, dark spots were apparent underneath them. He blinked repeatedly, clearly forcing his eyes open every time, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Sousuke... look at me..." Concern filled her voice, but she didn't move towards him. He didn't look stable.

Sousuke reset his grip on the pistol. Kaname watched him squeeze the trigger slightly.

"It's okay, Sousuke... it's okay... take it easy..." She swallowed hard, unsure what to do or say. Something was clearly wrong. She bit her lip. He opened his mouth slowly...

"...Sti--... still al..ive...?" It was broken, but she understood it. The situation started making a little more sense now.

"I'm here... I'm fine... ...I'm alive, Sousuke... look at me..." But he wouldn't turn her way. She watched him swallow while resetting his grip again, finger still poised to fire.

"...Not hurt...?"

"I'm not hurt, Sousuke," she tried her best to sound consoling, "nothing has happened... we're both right here, there's no enemy..." She tried appealing to his usual concerns... no enemies... no threats were here. "No bombs... no terrorists... everything's fine, Sousuke... please look at me..." If she could just get him to look, maybe that would help... It was a ridiculous situation, but the air about him made it all seem dead serious.

Another silence.

"No... no one... touched you..." This time it was more of a statement than a question.

"That's right, Sousuke..." She paused for a moment, remembering the night before and choosing her words carefully. "You were the last person who touched me... last night... you tucked me in and you turned off the light..." Chidori frantically tried to think of something else to say. It seemed that each time her voice stopped, Sousuke would twitch slightly, "You're still the only person I trust..."

Sousuke's eyes moved briefly in her direction and then locked back on the clock. His grip loosened slightly.

_Now it should be okay to move_, she thought. Kaname slowly reached her hand over to his and gently guided the pistol down. When their hands reached his hip the weapon slipped from his hands and landed with a loud "whump!" on the floor. The sound seemed to startle Sousuke, who tensed momentarily.

"Sousuke, it's alright... My God, you're freezing...!" Chidori sat up and placed both hands on his. He had clearly been in a cold sweat, and his fingers felt lifeless--devoid of any heat at all.

Kaname pulled at his arm, coaxing him towards the bed. He resisted slightly.

"Sousuke... you've got to get warm, you're going to freeze like that..." He kept looking down at the pistol on the floor.

"Sousuke!" She was still gentle, but raised her voice. "Get a hold of yourself... look at me...!"

He still wouldn't move, so Chidori got up on her knees and took both sides of his face and turned him to her. She held him there facing her for several seconds before his eyes made their way to her. He seemed to inspect her body from the feet up. Chidori felt self conscious, watching his scrutinizing stare rise up... hips, stomach, chest, neck, chin, nose... and they finally met hers. She held him there and looked straight at him. Sagara stared back, seeming to alternate between disbelief and concern.

Another moment of silence passed while the two gazed... Clarity seemed to emerge in his eyes and hers, as natural consciousness returned.

Kaname broke the silence. "Get under the covers. You're ice cold." It was the most normal sounding thing she could think of. She lifted the corner of the sheets on up, and watched him look blankly at the open space. When she looked down and saw her own body she realized why he might be hesitating. "Don't... don't worry about that... kind of thing, it's not important right now..."

She took his slight movement in her direction as all the affirmation she needed. Chidori took him by the hand and led him into the bed with her, taking care to wrap the blanket around his back as he curled up rigidly.

_He looks so... weak... so vulnerable... I've never seen him quite like this... except that one time... Yeah, in Hong Kong... Come to think of it, that time he was also asking if I was still alive..._

Sousuke was in a near fetal position now, a shivering mass in Kaname's bed. She looked at him for another moment before sighing.

"There's no helping it, I guess..." With that, Chidori moved back to him, wrapped one leg around his under the covers and held him close to her chest.

_His feet are so cold... His hair is a little wet... _Chidori was noticing things she never noticed before. _He's pretty thin... but so cold..._ She pulled him by the back of his neck into her breasts without thinking, the same way she would hold the stuffed Bonta-kun. When she felt his breath through her pajama top below her neck she blushed furiously.

_I... I did that totally on instinct... I hope he doesn't--..._ She had started to think "I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea," before realizing there's no way that would happen… at least not now. When her heartbeat returned to normal she unconsciously ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. He had been sweating but he didn't smell bad—for that she was grateful. She smiled when she looked down at him. He looked like he might be suffocating, but apparently didn't have any trouble breathing. Childlike in his expression, she started thinking of the way he looked that one day in her bathroom. This was the second time he'd fallen asleep with her there... Now his head rested on her arm, face nestled against her. He was certainly a lot warmer now. One arm had found its way around her; the other was surely squeezed in somewhere. Kaname chuckled slightly, aware that if he were awake and coherent suddenly, he'd probably jump away, apologizing repeatedly. With that small possibility, she pulled him closer once more before closing her eyes.

With one of her senses now blocked, Chidori's other senses were amplified. Occasionally Sousuke would spasm slightly, his legs moving all of the sudden. She wondered if he was still having the nightmare. If he was, at least when he woke up he'd be in her arms, pressed tightly against her chest, and he would not be in reach of his pistol. The only thing keeping Kaname awake was an underlying fear of how Sousuke would react when he awoke. While it was true that she had smiled on the idea of him scrambling away, was there a chance that such an event would ruin all the progress they had made over the past night? Would he be afraid to touch her again after waking up in this scenario? She decided she had little room to do anything about it if this could happen. After all, he had just had a nightmare in which she was presumably killed. She could not very well leave him lying under her bed, freezing.

With her worries temporarily set aside, Chidori found herself involuntarily conjuring up dangerous fantasies stemming from their current position. She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head briefly. _It's not good to think about such things…._ Kaname tilted her head down and pressed her lips to the top of Sousuke's head, then settled into her pillow.

Sleep overtook her quickly, as she was still exhausted. She started to ask herself why her alarm clock had gone off when it was still dark outside, but she gave up on answering that before she asked it.

_Maybe that dream I was having will continue…._

(to be continued…)


	10. Chapter 9: Alter Ego

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 9 (final)

Warning: This chapter contains explicit (not sexually explicit, just explicit) descriptions of romantic matter. Still very much PG-13, but it **will not appeal** to all readers. You have been warned.

----

_Hmm… where is this? Wasn't I just here?_

Kaname looked around a bit. Sun was pouring into the comfortable if unfamiliar room.

"What's wrong? Is something bothering you?"

The voice was familiar. She whirled around. "Sousuke?"

It was almost an exclamation, said with some incredulity.

He made a concerned noise. "You really are acting strange; perhaps you should lie down again."

_Lie down again? _She struggled to mentally catch up. _Wait, this place was… this was the dream I was having… I think. Wait, if it's a dream, how am I…?_

On reality's side, Kaname was feeling the force of her sleeping body trying to wake up.

_No! I won't!_ She concentrated on her dream's environment. _Don't give up, Kana! Get back in!_

Once securely in the false world again, Chidori speculated. _This must be that 'lucid dreaming' Kyouko was telling me about._

There would be time for analyzing her dream state later. Right now there was a blissful environment to be had.

"Kana?"

She jerked back suddenly. Not only was Sousuke much closer than he had been a moment ago, he had just called her "Kana." There was no more mistaking this for reality.

"Kana, you really aren't acting yourself…." A look of concern, accompanied by an odd confidence, came from Sagara.

"No… no, sorry, I'm fine." She was uncomfortable. It felt like she was talking to a different person.

There was a long pause.

"Could… could you call me… Chidori… again?" She added suddenly "Just for awhile! I… I don't know why…."

Sousuke's hand crept around her waist. He smiled at her knowingly. "Of course… Chidori."

The way he had said it made her gasp slightly. This confidence he had… it was fitting, somehow… showing that tactical coolness in another realm…. She felt his hand slide around the small of her back. He smelled good… very good. Kaname had already forgotten she was in a dream. She moved towards him under his hand's guidance. Her body came dangerously close to touching his. He was gazing at her, but she couldn't look back. It was too much. Her heart couldn't take this kind of stimulation.

"Hmm… I think I get it…," said he, while silently licking his lips.

"Get… what…?" Kaname's voice was sheepish, words were barely coming out. This was a level of anticipation she hadn't felt before. It was consuming her. She blushed red.

While her heart rate sped to unprecedented levels, Sousuke's hand left her waist, while his body stayed within centimeters of hers.

Just when her curiosity brought her to finally look up at him, Kaname felt her wrists bound. Suddenly, Sousuke had seized both her wrists. With a single motion she felt the room turn and her back hit the wall roughly. She was pinned, her right arm held near her ear, the other behind her back against the wall.

It was his trademark military precision. He had taken her totally off guard, and put her into a completely submissive position without giving her any time to react, and most impressive of all, without inflicting any pain whatsoever. Chidori looked back at the gaze of Sagara Sousuke, now more confident than ever. She bit her lip… what he would do next she had no way of knowing.

Sousuke drew nearer, his body brushing hers slightly; enough to make her involuntarily lean slightly forward.

"It appears I was right, Chidori." He spoke softly, but without any hint of error, and with intensity she'd never seen him show her. She saw his entire focus on her, not to be distracted by the sun pouring in from the side, or anything else in the room. She felt her self-consciousness driving her wild, knowing how he was looking at her. Somewhere deep in side she knew how strange and unnatural this circumstance was, but Sagara had so wholly entranced her that she could not pull out of the feeling. Eagerness took over once more as she asked herself. _Why won't he do it? Why won't he just hurry up and kiss me! He knows that's what I want!_

"S—Sousuke… I… Nnn…." She resisted his grip to no avail. She pulled away from the wall towards him, stretching ever closer but never quite close enough to meet his lips.

_This is exactly what he wants… he wants me to beg for it… to make me tell him I want his kiss…._

It would be infuriating if it weren't intoxicating. Chidori knew no words for the burning in her chest, or the level of excitement she was getting out of fighting against her own pride. He was right there….

"Wait… Sousuke… couldn't Wraith be watching us?" She turned her head to look out of the window.

In the meantime, Sousuke had silently put his mouth to her ear. "Mmm… I hope he is."

His proximity and exhilarating words nearly pushed her over the edge. She gasped for breath while Sagara pulled back slightly so that she still couldn't touch his lips.

Kaname was now refocused on her target, with the added thrill that someone could be watching them from afar. She quickly remembered her dilemma. _Ahhh! I can't… I can't just… say it… when he's right there… waiting for it!_

"Nngh…" She closed her eyes to try to help fight it, but all it accomplished was to intensify her other senses. His scent was strong. She could feel his breath _right there_ at her lips. She could hear the rustling of her clothes against his firm but painless grip. She felt his forearm pressed against hers behind her back.

_I… I can't… take any more….  
_

"Sou—Sousuke… k-…ki-…." She opened her eyes to see his intense, loving, and altogether arrogant gaze when she said it. "Kiss me!"

She gasped after saying it, sure that he would appease her and connect. His lips were now less than two centimeters from hers, but she couldn't lean any further forward, though she tried anyway. At last he moved.

He swept down to the side of her neck, kissing her there several times, while transferring his left hand's grip on her wrist to a spread palm, fingers entwined with hers against the wall. She whimpered slightly at the sensation: a mixture of elation at the contact and dismay that he had resisted her will yet again. When she felt prickly facial hair against her cheek, she caved.

"Wha—What do you want me to say!"

She was answered by a gentle nip just below her jaw bone, followed by a few more kisses. His grip on her other arm loosened slightly. "Hmm…" He stalled long enough to drive her anticipation to peak level again. His voice was muffled, and he paused to tease her with another peck here and there on her neck when he spoke, to which he received a small whimper each time.

"You just... outright… told me… to kiss you..." He stopped his intermittent kissing to look straight into her eyes again. "That didn't seem very polite, so I decided to take it upon myself…" he paused and took a deep breath. "…as to _where_ I kissed you." And with that he went back to her neck to kiss again, occasionally brushing his tongue along her skin in the process, tasting her.

Kaname's voice was entirely lost to her now. She inwardly begged him to stop the torture. Outwardly, she managed "Why… are you teasing me like this?"

Suddenly Sousuke stopped his attack. Slowly he moved back in front of her.

"Do you really need me to answer that, Chidori?"

He was right; she already knew what the answer would be. The traces of his kisses and grazes of the tongue chilled her skin as they evaporated while her very soul seized in excitement at the thought of hearing the coming words. Sousuke was now moving closer… he pressed his chest against hers as he put his mouth up to her ear. Kaname trembled, barely noticing him releasing his grip on her left wrist entirely. He didn't need to hold her down anymore… her pride was long gone, replaced by the desire to be—she shuddered when she realized it—dominated.

She felt his chest push a little closer. "It's because…," he whispered.

Kaname took a breath through her nose and swallowed. _Here it comes…._

"It's because… you _want me to._"

Her exhale seemed to last forever. The words sent a tingling sensation down her limbs. She was frozen still when she heard Sousuke's mouth open and felt him drop a bit, his arms now resting on her shoulders. He slowly drew her earlobe into his mouth with the tip of his tongue and bit on it gently.

_I can't take it… not there! I definitely can't survive that… I'll explode…!_

"Enough!" She said without moving. "I'll say it… Sousuke…."

He stopped the assault on his new target and waited.

Chidori spoke softly, "Can… can I whisper it?"

She could feel him grin next to her ear without even looking. Knowing the tremendous satisfaction he must've been getting from finally breaking her almost brought some of her pride back to the surface. But she quickly remembered what she was waiting for.

"Yes, you can…," he paused. "…This time." Sousuke waited in his position for her to say the unspeakable words.

Kaname swallowed hard, the reward that was so close at hand making her heart thump so loud it could be heard a few meters away. "Sousuke…," she drew his name out in her whisper. "Please… kiss… me. I'm…" she swallowed hard again. _It's so close, Kaname!_ She had to pour everything into it. "I'm… _begging_ you… to kiss me… now… please." The last word could barely be heard.

Sousuke made no reply, instead bringing one hand down to her waist, and the other up to gently cup her cheek. Still unable to move, Kaname looked at him intently, waiting for the beginning…. He stroked her cheek once with his thumb before pulling her into him with the other hand.

Their bodies made full contact: All of her remaining breath escaped and she breathed in once more as she watched his lips open slightly.

He tilted his head and kept moving forward. Kaname let her lips fall open to match his.

_He's not stopping… he's not stopping…!_ Time froze as he drew her gently toward him with his other hand. _He's not… stop—_

Kaname's eyes opened. Sagara wasn't there. She looked down. There he was...

…Reality settled in unfavorably with Chidori. She realized that not only had the past several moments not happened… they had been a dream which she initially knew wasn't real. Beyond that, there lay Sousuke, the polar opposite of the one… _The one who just… just…. _ Kaname blushed so much it was hot.

She scrambled away from the sleeping Sagara, falling off the side of the bed and taking most of the sheets with her.

Having been disturbed from his rest (and his former pillow), Sousuke sat up in the bed, looking around.

"Hnnn?"

Kaname found herself hiding from view on the other side of the bed, somehow hoping he wouldn't notice her or the pile of sheets she was under.

Sousuke immediately noticed and uncharacteristically crawled over to peer down at the lump of sheets.

"Uhh… Chidori…?"

"Haaa?" It was an unfriendly sort of grunted response.

"…We are not being shelled, you need not take cover."

With that, Chidori's figure collapsed onto the floor under the sheets, one leg twitching slightly.

"Ugh… reality indeed."

(End of Wo Futari De)

----

Postscript

----

Well, friends, that does it for the romance volume. I guess the first thing I need to do is apologize for the relatively short length of the eighth and ninth chapters. I was originally going to only write eight, and Kaname's dream would be part of that eighth chapter. However, with the intense nature of what is now chapter nine, I figured there'd be several people who would prefer not to read it at all, and just consider the shorter version of chapter eight to be the end of the story. This is fine, of course. I briefly attempted to at least break the 2000 word mark on both chapters, but I found myself seriously just padding the chapters, and I don't want to get in the habit of slowing down the story for the sake of word count.

I also need to apologize for the rating I submitted. While nothing in this story constitutes an "R" rating, it's not really PG-13 either. I would expect that anyone under the age of 16 would find the violence, and chapter nine, rather explicit. While I would like to have rated the story more accurately, a mature rating is, in my opinion, more misleading. Higher ratings tend to suggest that there's explicit material over the entire story, and that's just not true here.

While on the subject of content, I'm also aware that I'm probably going to get a few reviews or e-mails telling me it's cheap to use a dream to entertain my (and possibly the readers') desire for a very romantic scene. To that I have but one response: You're absolutely right. And that's why I consider chapter eight as much an end to the story as chapter nine. However, I had a blast writing the entire story, and nine is no exception. To those that are truly upset about chapter 9, I'm sorry. I'm aware that the content here was dangerously close to what could daringly be called foreplay, but we all have those kinds of dreams occasionally, right? Kaname's dream and Sousuke's nightmare are no different from our reality, I think. shrug

Allow me to once more thank all my readers and reviewers. While the number of hits or reviews on this story may not be very impressive by this site's standards, to me the response I received was **tremendous**, and I never expected my work to be enjoyed by as many people as I hope have done so.

As for future volumes and releases, please refer to my profile for details, as I hope to edit only that and the foreword as news changes. But for now…

Sousuke Sagara will return in…

"Hitosawagase"

----

Response to Reviews

----

I've received several reviews for WFD; most being quite complimentary (Thank you again… I'm so not worthy…; ;). I have received reviews from a reader that was critical, and I'm also extremely thankful for that. Because I believe his/her concerns are quite valid, I think they, and my response to them, deserve to be posted.

--

_I thought it was nice that Sousuke tucked Kaname in--cute. _

_To be honest, though, I have never been a fan of dream sequences in stories. We all know that Sousuke would be devastated by any harm/death dealt to Kaname. We also know that Sousuke is obsessed with safeguarding her physical well-being. For the purposes of plot/character development, I thought the dream was a little unnecessary, and kind of a cop-out._

_I would have enjoyed a scene in which where we could watch Sousuke watch Kaname, listen to how he felt about lying underneath her (even if it was under a bed) or learn something new about the characters. Maybe Kaname has something hidden under her bed that is extremely interesting?_

_Still, I really enjoy the way you write Sousuke and Kaname's points of view. The things they think and do are really true and full, so I give you 5 stars on that!_

_Okay, I know I wrote about how I didn't like the dream sequence in the last chapter, but since this chapter is about what happens in relation to the dream, I have to follow up with a little more (negative) criticism:_

_I just can't imagine that Sousuke, as paranoid and war-minded as he is, would be as shaken as he is depicted in this chapter. Sure, he's a little tightly-wound about security, but he's also an extremely analytical person and is very conscious of his surroundings. Since he realized he was dreaming in the previous chapter ("something was wrong" and "he wasn't even lying down anymore" indicated to me that he understood this was a dream), I would hope that a chicken-shaped alarm clock would clue him in that he was now conscious. Just my two cents._

_I DO like that Kaname pulled him into bed, however. Rawr. And I think that you have a great knack for Kaname/Sousuke dialogue._

(easysecond, reviews, 02/27/06)

--

Excellent criticism, thank you on both counts.

Regarding chapter 7:

I had originally intended to have them both unable to sleep, both being so close to each other but having an obstacle between (the bed). Specifically I was aiming for the symbolism here of how their two lifestyles were the only things holding them apart: Sousuke having to be "under the bed" (metaphorically) all the time and Kaname having to "stay in the comfort of the sheets" metaphorically again.

I felt at the time of writing these chapters (this was probably late November) that having such a scene at this time would have several negative effects.

1) Both characters have been heavily introspective over the whole story. While you and I may enjoy reading more of this, I feel that other people are ready for some more chapter 3/4: things actually happening.

2) Both characters are extremely exhausted. Sousuke has just found himself in a rage he never knew he had in him before. Kaname is still under the side effects of the tranquilizer. Both have been in a very heavy rainstorm for hours in early fall. In Japan, this means they're pretty cold (though I admit I failed to properly send that message in the text). Loss of heat is just one more thing adding to their exhaustion. This reason was probably the most significant when I sat down to write the chapter: these characters are hardly in any condition to keep reminiscing, even though that's the intent of the story as a whole.

I understand your criticism of the dream environment. A dream, however, allows an author to do a lot of things he couldn't in reality. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage in this case was that something was happening: an exciting (if in a bad way) series of events including lots of symbolism in the environment, Sousuke's position, and many aspects of Kaname's death itself (most prominently the fact that she dies on top of his dismantled weapon). I also felt like this dream was a more vivid way of relaying Sousuke's increasing concern for his own inadequacy. The disadvantage to the dream is that a reader often downplays its importance because it does not occur in reality. I felt like a lot of the symbolism in his dream was clouded by this fact, and for that I'm disappointed with the result.

Regarding chapter 8:

I may need to edit chapter 7 if you felt he knew he was in a dream. I intended for the reader to understand that Sousuke did not feel that he was in normal surroundings, not that he knew he was dreaming... if that makes any sense. I.e. literally "something is not right" here and nothing more. As for his reaction, we know that he is in a state of emotional unrest. We also know right from the start (episode 6 or 7 of the first series, as I recall), that when it comes to Chidori Kaname, Sagara does not act in his normal, tactical manner. Specifically I'm referring to him prioritizing her safety over the entire class when he goes to rescue her in the airplane hijacking incident. For that reason if nothing else, I have to disagree that Sousuke's reaction after waking up from his dream is uncharacteristic. However, since you believed he knew he was in a dream, the criticism certainly still holds water. I will look into updating chapter 7 after I finish posting.

Finally, yes: "rawr" is exactly the kind of feeling I had when I first wanted to create a situation of them being asleep in the same bed. It was actually this desire that helped me decide to have them fall asleep quickly and for Sousuke to have a nightmare, because I could think of no other good reason for Kaname to pull him in.

Regarding chapter 9, which you have not read yet:

You may find it not to be to your liking. I believe you'll enjoy the content, but not the setting. I'm not, however, changing the setting in light of your criticism, though said criticism is much appreciated. I'm sure you understand why that is, though.

Thanks again!

-Eso-

PS- I am copying and pasting this message so that, awaiting your approval, I can tag it to the end of one of the chapters so that those with similar concerns may read it.

(Esoteria, PM, 02/27/06)

--

_I see your points! I admit that I'm partial to the whole "introspection while nothing is actually HAPPENING" style of fiction, which is why I may have felt disappointment with the dream sequence. I did think about how exhausted they were when they went to sleep, which is why I understand why you didn't have either of them stay up any longer than they did._

_Noting your points about Sousuke's reaction, I agree--he's not at his most rational when it comes to Kaname. Though, it would have been fun if he had dismantled her chicken clock and searched her for injury._

_On chapter 9 (which I hope to read soon!), I honestly feel relieved that you won't be changing anything on account of my input. I want to see what YOU want to write, not what I want to see. _

_And, feel free to copy/paste away!_

_-Case_

(easysecond, PM, 02/27/06)

----

_Just to reiterate...you write beautifully, I have no complaints in that department._

_This last chapter is no exception, but the use of a dream plot ploy does feel almost anticlimatic...especially after the more tension filled chapters you had earlier. I guess I just feel like it needed a little more pow! at the end (even subtle understated pow) rather than the dream sequence. That said, however, there's nothing wrong with it in and of itself, but as an ending it leaves me wanting more!_

_...and wanting more is both a very good and not so good thing all at once. But easysecond is quite write - that's how you want to tell the story. Keep that, that's good advice! Now I am rambling..._

_Anyways, I am looking forward to more of your work!_

(sciathan file, review, 03/01/06)

--

Your input, as always, is much appreciated. I too felt the ending was not as solid as I had originally hoped. This is, in part, due to the very long time it took for me to start writing chapter 9 after I had finished 8 (actually, as I mentioned before, chapter 8 was supposed to be the end). Significant changes will be made for the alternate ending, and it will pick up where chapter 8 left off. Large portions of chapter 9 may be used, I haven't decided yet. All I can say for now is that I do intend to write another chapter. And fear not, this is not due only to discontent readers. I want a different ending as well, and there are one or two things I want to do with the second ending. But you're both right. An ending is one of the most powerful, most important parts of a good story. Unfortunately it's also one of the hardest parts, and thus shouldn't be rushed, as Chapter 9 was. Anyway, please look forward to it!

(Esoteria, PM, 03/01/06)

----

I hope that this discussion is helpful to readers.

It is worth noting that since this discussion with easysecond occurred, Chapter 9 has been posted (new) and Chapter 7 has been edited for clarity.

If anyone else posts similar reviews I will consider putting them here in an update. It is unfortunate that this site does not allow for replies to reviews to be public.


	11. Chapter 9b: A Defeat Well Met

FMP Fan Fiction

Wo Futari De

by Esoteria

Chapter 9b

This is an alternate ending. It takes place where Chapter 8 left off.

----

A loud thunderclap awoke Kaname, who sat up, startled, in bed. She could hear the soft patter of rain on the railing at the dark balcony. As echoes of thunder bounced from the surrounding buildings to a decrescendo of bass, something about the dwindling storm coaxed her to her window. She rolled away from the heavy lump on the other side of the bed.

Putting one leg down to the floor at a time, she watched her hand shake slightly. Guiding it down beside her slowly, Kaname pushed herself up to a stand. She took a few wavering steps to the window, feeling the carpet seem to absorb part of her foot with each tread. When at last she reached her destination, she raised an arm to pull back the window curtain. Her pajamas, wrinkled from an awkward sleeping position, fell comfortably into place in the process. Soft fabric lightly touched her skin, which was sensitive from her comatose-like rest moments earlier. Chidori's head was swimming just slightly. Her heightened senses of touch and hearing combined with her supple clothing and the gentle rhythm of rain on hollow aluminum took her to a mild euphoria. She paused subconsciously with her hand hanging from and grasping the curtain. She stopped squinting, clearing the collected matter from her eyes with the other hand, and opened them fully to look when, with a brisk motion, she brought the curtain back.

A blinding flash of lightning greeted her. An astounding display of natural power, it had struck nearby. Kaname recoiled, shutting her eyes quickly and taking a few steps back. She looked at the afterimage of the bolt on her eyelids, which seemed to dash away each time she tried to focus on it. _Elusive little thing_, she thought with a small smile. But all the small things were huge to her right now. The accompanying blast of thunder faded. Hearing the water again brought her to slowly open her eyes. The window reflected a slight superimposition of her body upon the dark urban backdrop: her blue striped pajamas seemed a little duller than usual. Reaching subconsciously for the handle, she opened the sliding door slowly, its sound an unwelcome addition to the rain. When it was opened just enough for her to fit through, she did so.

Her feet touched the thin layer of cool rainwater that had collected on the concrete from the splatter. She closed the door behind her even more slowly than she had opened it and closed her eyes. Chidori felt the slight mist on her face from the rain dashing against the rail in front of her. When the door closed fully behind her she leaned against it and crossed her arms in front of her. She stayed still like this for a moment, soaking in the environment.

A memory began replaying in her mind as she pressed against this glass: an incident where she had screamed in fright after seeing a large cockroach in her apartment. Even more frightening had been Sagara Sousuke crashing through the window much like this one, him being hung by a rappelling rope, and landing on her floor with gun drawn, demanding "Where is the enemy?" She smiled again. _That Sousuke…_. But something melancholy was rising in her throat when she thought about him… something that had brought her out of her bed in the first place.

She opened her eyes and looked down at the concrete. She could almost see an image of him squatting there, panties in hand, saying "Chidori… What a coincidence." She gradually pushed herself off of the glass door and squatted down with the invisible Sagara, gently taking the underwear from his hand and setting them aside.

"Now, now, Sousuke…" she whispered as her eyes started to burn just a little. She put out her hand and ruffled his imaginary hair, and visualized him squinting a bit as she did so.

"Come sit with me," she said softly, and sat down against the door. The lump in her throat was growing. She didn't notice the small amount of rain water soaking into her pajama bottoms.

"Come on…" she patted the concrete next to her and smiled. "There you are. What's wrong?"

"…"

"Hmm…. Mmm hmm…."

"…"

"That's true…. I suppose that's okay though, right?"

"…"

"…Yeah… I think so too."

She closed her eyes again, leaning towards him, feeling water collect at the corners of her eyes. There was satisfaction by appeasing her fantasy. She tilted her head to rest on his shoulder, sighing cutely.

"…Ahh, Sousuke… I lo—"

She threw a hand out to catch herself, having nearly fallen onto the bare concrete. But then, here was also sadness at reality's dull but ever-present overshadow.

…She picked herself up slowly, and let her head roll back until it hit the glass with a little "thump." She stared at the underside of the balcony above hers.

Her lips began to quiver slightly. She bit her bottom lip to stop it while several tears rolled down her cheeks.

She blinked hard, never fully clearing the saline that burned so. She sniffled quietly and brought up her hand to her face, wiping the remaining tears away.

…But they just came back. Sniffling again, she stood up slowly, turning to the glass.

Sniff… the tears wouldn't stop, even now. She couldn't stop thinking about him.

She looked at the object of her despair through the window, pressing her palm against the cold glass.

"Sousuke…" she whispered, shaking slightly. "How can I be missing you so much when you're right here?"

Another flash of lightning showed her the reflection of her face. Her hair was unkempt. There was more than a bit of redness in her eyes.

_This glass…_ it felt like it was a meter thick. _ The door… _like it took superhuman strength to open.

"Why… Sousuke…"

She felt a new wave of tears coming as discomforting heat collected in the space between her skin and her pajama shirt. A warm, uncomfortable prickling sensation grew as sweat began to manifest itself.

"Why is your heart in there… why can't I get to it…? Why am I always stuck on the outside? I don't understand you… Sousuke…." She choked on some tears and swallowed. "I don't understand how you feel… do you feel anything? I keep waiting for you…."

Inside there was silence. Kaname's forehead was pressed against the window. Her tears met the glass halfway down and slid, collecting rain water and increasing in speed before they finally hit the concrete.

She bit back her quivering lip again while watching her tears fall.

"Sousuke… do you even…," she mouthed silently. She swallowed when her heart tried to make its way up her throat.

"Sousuke…," her nose was beginning to run a bit. "Sousuke…."

…She mouthed the words silently….

"I love you…."

It hurt so much.

When she finished saying it in her mind she squeezed her eyes closed again and bit back more tears. She whimpered once loudly before raising both arms to help her fight. She brushed away more and more tears, wiped her nose and eyes many times, before it finally stopped. Her pitiful sounds had only been reflecting back at her, making it even worse, and yet she recalled being in a similar state of discontent one dark night on the top of a tall building.

She looked around outside again once. The storm had paid her no mind. Flares of light defied her emotions and welcomed them all the same. Rain danced on the rail, laughing at her. Thunder rolled overhead, flaunting its superiority.

She stood still for several minutes.

After a while, Kaname took a deep breath and reached for the door. As it slid open, another soft roll of thunder bid her a bitter farewell. Her feet met the soft carpet and the door slid closed behind her. She looked up at the darkness retreating from the early morning sky before closing the curtain again with a swishing sound.

When she turned around, it looked as though Sousuke had shifted a little in his sleep. He was lying on his back, sheets in disarray.

Kaname slowly crawled into the bed, taking care not to disturb him, lest he awake and see her in this condition. She lay down on her side and watched with one eye from her pillow. His chest rose and fell. She could see his rapid eye movement through his eyelids. His forehead wrinkled on occasion.

She took another breath and moved a few centimeters closer under the covers.

"Sousuke…," she mouthed.

Suddenly it was too much to bear again. _I don't understand!_ She sniffed again before she threw herself softly, but with some abandon, atop his chest, with both hands curled into fists at his shoulder and stomach. Muffled sobs were heard as she tried hard to keep from waking him, but remained unable to pull herself away from his body all the same. She flattened the hand at his shoulder while she cried, searching for his heartbeat.

Between sobs, she whispered into his chest… "You're right here, aren't you, Sousuke? You're right here…and yet still I'm…."

She cried silently for several minutes.

Finally she lifted her head off of his chest, her tears having soaked right through his shirt. She pulled her pillow to her and turned away from him, bringing her knees to her chest, and forcing herself to attempt a return to sleep.

----

When the sounds of her misery faded at last, Sousuke took a full breath.

_Sagara Sousuke,_ he told himself, _You are an idiot. You're the same moron, the same fool she always says you are._ He risked being found out, and brought one hand to his forehead, squinting as he mentally cursed himself for the thousandth time in twenty-four hours.

She had managed to get outside without him noticing. He could chalk that up to sheer exhaustion and the aftereffects of a horrible nightmare. But there was no way he would have missed the thump of her head hitting the glass. Immediately he had awoken, reaching for his pistol which was nowhere nearby, and had seen her distraught figure pressed against the glass.

He should've gone out to her then.

When she got up and turned to the glass, he had stopped moving and feigned sleep. But in the dark room he left one eye slightly open, and watched her tears fall down the transparent door.

He definitely should've gone to her then.

He had seen her fighting back waves of tears, while repeated mouthing his name and some words he could not discern. He had watched her look longingly at him, as though she could never come back inside. He saw her turn to the sky, and even saw her biting back her shivering lips before she turned to the door again.

He should've been at that door, waiting for her with open arms.

Then he had gone so far as to feign R.E.M. sleep while he felt her crawl into the bed and look at him.

He should've returned her gaze and thanked her for being who she was to him.

As though he had not failed her already, he lay there, unmoving, while she cried audibly on his chest. He could feel her tears soak through. They burned holes in his heart but he did not move.

He should've wrapped his arms around her and not let go.

Sousuke heard her whisper, "You're right here, aren't you?" And though his very soul screamed "I'm here, Chidori!" his body lay still. Her hand smoothed over his shoulder, giving him the best possible opportunity.

He should've seized it, and told her right then what he felt.

She had left him, turning away surely in the disgust he was owed, and buried her emotion and her pain in the pillow while he continued to resist the correct actions.

_I'm sorry, Chidori…. I… I don't… deserve…_

In spite of himself, Sousuke had spent the entire time wracking his mind for reasons why she might be so upset. He had gone over the events of the day and critically picked apart each of his own actions… looking for any flaw… any possible misunderstanding or neglect on his part. He could think of nothing. Something about her general demeanor the night before had been comforting, and he was at a peace he had not felt since taking on this assignment. At peace, that is, until reaching the train station. Was she upset with him for again putting them in danger? Surely not, because her reaction when she awoke was far from angered at his critical mistake.

And yet regardless of his attempts, he could not discern the meaning behind her tears.

…She was saying his name… _why?_ Sousuke became enraged at his own inadequacy. _WHY?_

His concern that he had wronged her in some way still did not alleviate his desire to be closer to her. Weren't tears more painful when cried alone? Had not Sousuke himself felt out of place sitting on the other side of the train car? What was happening to him? What was happening to her?

Her tears were not expended. Kaname whimpered softly in her pillow. Sagara could take no more.

_Curse my training, and curse my past if it would stop me at such a time! Chidori… please forgive me…._

Sousuke slid over to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and threading the other under her pillow. He pressed against her back and curled his legs up to meet hers. He buried his face in the hair at the back of her neck and squeezed his eyes closed. His heart sped to a rate he hadn't experienced even in the most heated of battles. His mind felt like it was flying away, leaving him no thought but only his senses behind. His eyes rolled up behind his eyelids as he breathed in her scent. He pulled her as close as he could, his muscles burning with the anticipation of feeling another small piece of her against him.

He swallowed hard and waited….

----

Kaname tensed, her body seizing as she felt him come to her. When she felt his arm slide under her pillow she opened her eyes wide, looking at his fingertips just barely visible above her head. She felt his lap and his knees meet hers.

Her mind fought furiously over whether to push her body back into him or forward into his arm. In the end she stayed still, almost unable to breathe from the overwhelming feeling. Her tears of sorrow turned to tears of elation in a mere instant of his contact. Her mind flew at a thousand kilometers per hour through every moment they had spent together… through the slowly decreasing distance between them as they walked or talked. Images of him at each dramatic second that he had stepped in harm's way for her, come to rescue her… they replayed, amplified to unparalleled levels. The events of the night before were no longer confusing and traumatic to her. She had waited this long. She would let thing develop as they would. _I owe him that much…._

She wanted to turn to him… to see him, but she couldn't make herself move. A second without his touch would be too much to bear.

And yet, incredibly, even through this moment… somehow, exhaustion was setting in. A chemical imbalance of some sort… an aftereffect of the previous day… her consciousness was slipping in Sousuke's warm embrace. Kaname fought it, but it would not release her.

She quickly saw that her battle would not be won, but she wanted to move… to show him some signal that she was grateful. She thought again to turn around, or to bring her arm back to run through his hair…. _But wouldn't that frighten you, Sousuke? Would you be worried I don't like it if I moved suddenly?_ She pondered momentarily with reality fading away at an incredible pace, and then decided.

She moved her arm from the mattress to cover his own. She slipped her fingers between his and pulled his arm gently to her. More of his skin against hers gave her one final attack against her enemy that was sleep. She felt his foot move across hers and she reacted in kind. Dullness of mind swarmed to her retreating figure.

_Maybe I do understand you, Sousuke… just a little…._

Sleepiness washed over her at last. Kaname yawned as quietly as she could while sinking into her newly reinforced pillow. A defeat well met.

(End of Wo Futari De)


End file.
